


Harry Potter One Shots

by WitchyWeasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, One Shot, Short
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28007259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchyWeasley/pseuds/WitchyWeasley
Summary: A collection of Harry Potter one shots. I have previously posted these on Wattpad, and will continue to do so, but I wanted to put them here as well. (Note: my username and book title is different on Wattpad)
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Reader, Charlie Weasley/Reader, Draco Malfoy/Reader, Fred Weasley/Reader, George Weasley/Reader, Harry Potter/Reader, James Potter/Reader, Neville Longbottom/Reader, Ron Weasley/Reader, Severus Snape/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 101





	1. Ron Weasley-Overreacting

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is my least favorite, however I’m still going to post it. I wrote it during a terrible relationship, and it really reflects my own insecurities at the time.

You sat down next to Ron for the feast, and as usual, Harry and Hermione were sat across from you two.

"Hey (Y/N)! How was your summer?" Harry asked.

"Not too bad. I'm really glad to see you guys though. It was a very lonely summer." You said as you started putting food on your plate.

"We've missed you too (Y/N)." Ron said, secretly grabbing your thigh under the table. You two had kind of started to date, but you weren't public about it because you didn't want to draw too much attention to you guys. Especially with all the chaos that's been going on.

You all sat through the feast and watched all the first-years get sorted into their houses. You had finished eating and had decided you were going to go up to your room to finish unpacking all of your stuff. 

"Alright guys, I'll see you later. I'm going to go ahead and unpack some stuff." You said. 

"Hey that reminds me, Ron could you help me hang up a couple pictures on my wall? I'm too short to reach and I don't really trust the old chairs here." Hermione said quickly. Internally, you were a bit agitated. It was becoming very obvious that Hermione was into Ron, but him being who he is, is entirely oblivious to it. He will do any little thing she asks for, and you can't even say anything about it. If you talk to him about it, he just says you're being ridiculous because Hermione is just a friend and she trusts him to help her. However, he doesn't take into account the fact that she is a brilliant witch who could use magic easily to do it herself, and that she never asks Harry to do anything. 

You understand that they're friends, and she's your friend too. You just get worried easily because of a past relationship where your boyfriend always hung out with his best friend of the opposite sex, and ended up cheating on you because of it. Plus you've always been a bit of a self-conscious person, even though you are trying very hard to get better about it. So now you'll have to see Hermione flirt with the person you're dating for probably about an hour later. 

As Ron happily and obliviously said yes, you stood up and went up to the tower. For some reason, any time he does something like that, you get this odd feeling in your chest. It's like when you get butterflies, but it's with angry bees instead. You know that you're being ridiculous over a seemingly harmless situation, but the bees in your chest keep swarming and swarming and don't seem to stop. 

In an attempt to calm yourself down, you head to the showers. A long hot shower should at least calm you, even if only for a little while. The hot water seemed to wash your worries away and put you in a much calmer state than before. After your shower, you slipped on a pair of fuzzy shorts and a t-shirt. You looked like a hot mess, but you only planed on being in your room. Plus it would look suspicious if you tried to look decent since you know that Ron will be in your room later. 

You get back to your room and continue packing away your belongings. Soon afterwards, Ron and Hermione come in. Ron had just told a random story and Hermione was giggling at it a little harder than a normal person would. 

"Hey guys, sorry about the mess that is me right now, I just got out of the shower." You said as you combed through your wet hair. You finished unpacking your clothes and decided to take a break and doodle a little bit in your notebook. 

"Ron, thank you so much for helping me! What would I ever do if I didn't have such a wonderful person as you!" Hermione giggled as she handed him a picture to hang up. It was of her and Ron from this summer, since she was able to stay at the burrow. You rolled on the bed to face away from them, and you could feel the bees beginning to swarm in your chest again. 

"Anything for my best friend Hermione." He said. That one stung a bit, considering he always called you his best friend. You continued doodling and listening to their conversation. 

"Ron, my shoulders are terribly sore. Would you mind giving me a quick massage?" Hermione asked, suddenly being bold. You're heart stopped as you painstakingly waited for his response. Surely he would realize that this isn't considered okay? Surely he would say something like 'Oh, let me grab Ginny she's great with this?' or even suggest Harry, right? He wouldn't do this with you lying in the bed five feet away, he surely can't be that oblivious.

"Sure thing!" He said and you could hear them both sit on the bed. The bees were now swarming at an alarming rate in your chest, and you couldn't hold anything back much longer.

"I think I'll just leave you two alone." You said quickly as you grabbed a box of tissues and ran down to the common room. Thankfully it didn't look like anyone else was there so you plopped down in front of the fire and started to cry. 

It hurt watching someone attempt to steal the person you love, without them even knowing. It also hurts not being able to step in and do anything because you agreed to a low-key relationship so that everything didn't change. Also, it sucks because all boys seem to be absolutely oblivious when girls flirt with them. They all just think it's because you're their friend.

You pulled your knees into your chest and put your head down as you softly cried and began overthinking everything. Soon you heard the common room door open and just froze, hoping that whoever entered would just head up to their room and not ask about you.

"(Y/N)? Is that you? Are you alright?" You recognized Harry's voice and just nodded your head, but didn't look up at him. "You don't seem alright, what's wrong?" He asked, sitting down next to you. 

You couldn't form any words. Instead, you just ended up crying harder and harder. Harry put his arm around you and handed you a tissue every once in a while while you cried into his chest. Though Harry was typically busy and din't see you a lot, he was definitely a caring friend with you. He's helped you before when you get like this. He will just hold you and let you cry it out until you're able to speak again. 

"Shhhh, shhhhh, everything is going to be alright (Y/N). You know you can always talk to me right?" Harry said as he rubbed your shoulder. You nodded before blowing your nose for what seems like the millionth time. Soon your breathing had slowed down, and you were just occasionally sniffling. 

Soon you heard someone coming down the stairs, you instinctively hid your face back into Harry's robes so that nobody would see you're puffy face. You weren't exactly a pretty crier. 

"Hey Harry, and...(Y/N)? (Y/N), what's wrong?" Ron said, running down the stairs once he realized what was happening. You just shook your head, not wanting to say anything for a couple reasons. One being that Harry was there, and the other being that you would probably begin hyperventilating again. 

Ron just looked to Harry for a clue as to what was wrong with you. 

"I have no idea what's up. I found her crying when I came in about ten minutes ago, she hasn't spoken a word." Harry explained.

You continued to lay your head into Harry's shoulder. Honestly, looking at Ron right now would just cause everything to happen again. Even though you are aware it is a bit of an over reaction to something so silly, you can't overcome the urge to burst into tears when you see him being flirted with and him unintentionally going along with it. 

Ron tried to rub your shoulder to comfort you, but you turned fully towards Harry and wrapped your arm around him. You couldn't stand Ron doing that at the moment. Honestly, you just wanted him to go away. 

However, this pissed Ron off. Why were you letting Harry hold you and comfort you instead of him? Why were you clinging onto Harry for dear life but not letting him even touch your shoulder? What even happened in the fifteen minutes you've been downstairs for you to get like this?

"Fine, I'll leave you two lovers alone now I guess." Ron huffed as he stood up and started stomping up the stairs.

"Ron! Wait a minute, what's gotten into you? You know (Y/N) and I are only friends! What is bothering you?" Harry shouted at him.

"Oh no need to put on an act for me, you two love doves can just stay down there. Don't worry, I won't bother you again!" Ron snapped as he stomped up to his room and slammed his door shut.

"I should go talk to him." Harry said, giving you one last hug before he started standing up. You quickly pushed him back to his seated position.

"No no, I actually should go talk to him. Maybe you should go talk to Hermione, maybe make sure she's okay since the rest of us seem to be a mess." You stuttered, finally being able to talk.

"Are you sure?" he asked you. 

"Yeah, I promise. It's honestly going to be better for me to go talk to him." you said before blowing your nose one last time.

"Okay, well don't think you're off the hook missy. You were pretty upset for the past twenty minutes or so, and don't think I'm going to let you not talk about it with me!" Harry said, pointing at you before he got to a standing position. 

You walked up to Harry and Ron's room, and knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey there." You said softly, afraid of what was to come.

"Hi. Done snogging your new boyfriend downstairs?" He asked, turning to face away from you on his bed.

This comment kind of stung, but it also ticked you off a bit. Anytime you mention Hermione and how you're concerned she has a lot of feelings for Ron, he gets mad and says that you overreact. 

"I don't know, are you done giving your new girlfriend a neck massage?" You retaliated. 

"Oh my God, this again? (Y/N), when are you going to understand that I have friends, and one of them is a girl, and that she is practically family to me?! This whole jealousy thing is getting old." He turned to you.

"Oh really? You're right it's totally unreasonable to be upset by my boyfriend giving the girl who's in love with him a neck massage. How dare I be a little insecure about you letting this girl openly flirt with you when it feels like ever since we've started dating, you haven't wanted to be seen in public with me. How dare I let someone who has always been willing to help me when I have full crying fits hold me and calm me down when I felt like nobody else would have done that. How dare I just wish that for once, you could say no to one of her little favors she asks you to do, even though she's the brightest witch here at Hogwarts and she could honestly find a way to do anything on her own easily." You said, practically yelling at him before you broke down into tears again. 

Ron just sat up in his bed and stared at you for a bit, letting everything you said sink in. You were right. Hermione was asking for a lot of favors, and once he thought of it, they were mostly stupid mundane tasks that she could easily do with the flick of her wand. She does giggle the whole time too, which is nothing like Hermione is when anyone else is around. Though Ron does like to think he has some great jokes, Hermione is always the one laughing the hardest, and she never does that with anyone else. He also realized that Harry always has been the one to comfort you when you cried, simply because Hermione would always have him doing something like help her study. 

He slowly got off his bed, walked to you and just hugged you. You were originally leaning against the door, sobbing violently. As he walked over you flung your arms around him, holding onto him in fear that if you let go he'll be gone forever. He held onto you tightly as well, with the same fear that you have. He had never realized how much he was constantly hurting you. Soon tears were streaming down his cheeks as he held onto you tighter and tighter. 

"I...I...I'm...s...so...s...sorry." He said through big gasping breaths. You, still unable to talk, simply began playing with his hair in the hopes of it calming you down long enough to talk. Soon, you were able to get some words out.

"No, I'm sorry. I know I've been overreacting to this whole Hermione thing, but it just hurts me and I don't know how to ignore the feeling I get when I see her flirting with you." You mumble, still holding onto him and playing with his hair.

"No you were right. It was wrong of me to be upset downstairs. I know Harry is always there for you when you're upset because I never am. Somehow, I'm always dragged away by Hermione I just won't say no because she's a friend. I never thought about how stupid the tasks she has me doing are. And I do tend to stay away from you in public because I'm afraid that everyone seeing us out all the time will get them questioning if we are together. I never thought about how much it was hurting you for me to consistently leave you alone. Hell, it didn't even occur to me until just now that when I do that, I essentially leave you completely alone because I'm always with Harry and Hermione. I'm so so so sorry love." He said, sniffling every once in a while. 

You held onto him tighter than ever. Him apologizing for all of these things and realizing how much it was hurting you made you cry even more. However it wasn't out of sadness, it was just how your body decided to react to that. You were happy that he was realizing it, and that he was genuinely sorry for what he's been doing. 

"I'm still sorry for overreacting. Though I'm thankful that you realized the emotional strain I've been having, I also understand that a lot of it could have been prevented had I just sat and thought about how if Hermione would have actually put a move on you, you would've put a stop to it. I don't know why my brain always just thinks of the worst scenario possible and clings onto it for dear life." You said, stepping back for a minute and wiping your eyes. 

"Hey love, look at me." Ron said as he placed his hand onto your cheek and your eyes met. "I love you, and nothing is going to change that. Even a slight overreaction can't change the way I look at you. I may get frustrated, but it doesn't mean I've stopped loving you. And I understand now where your reactions are coming from, and I understand why I'm never there to comfort you when you get like this. What I don't understand is how you still love me, even after I've caused you so much pain and hurting." Ron said, rubbing your cheek.

"I love you too, and you know darn well nothing is going to change that. Thank you for understanding my odd overreactions and not hating me for them. And thank you for being aware that the reason Harry comforts me is because he just happens to be the one who's there, and that it's nothing more. And of course I still love you. Why would you think that a couple accidental and completely unintentional incidents were enough to destroy the ungodly amounts of love I have for you? Come on babe, our relationship is stronger than that." You said, trying to lighten up the mood a bit.

Ron smiled at you and wiped away another tear that was rolling down your cheek. Slowly, he leaned in and softly pressed his lips to yours. It was a sweet, timid kiss, like he was afraid to break you somehow. You pulled away and rested your head on his chest and wrapped your arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and began playing with your hair.

"I love you so much (Y/N), and thought I don't understand you, I'm so incredibly lucky to be loved by you."


	2. George Weasley-One Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take the Weasley’s & Co. out for a game of laser tag, and get caught off guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took this idea from a prompt I found on Pinterest, but I believe it was originally posted on Tumblr. It wasn’t so much a prompt as much as it was a normal text post, nonetheless that’s where this all came from.

"So (Y/N), could you explain the rules of 'laser tag' again? It's all a little fuzzy in my mind," Arthur Weasley said. 

"Basically, everyone has a laser gun, and a thing on their chest for others to shoot at. When you successfully shoot someone, you earn points for your team," you explained. You've decided to take the Weasley family, along with Harry and Hermione, to play a nice game of laser tag. 

"What about the lasers? Won't someone get hurt?" Molly asked curiously. 

"Not at all, the lasers aren't going to hurt anyone. They are really just beams of light that will get picked up by the sensors on our chests so that points can be tallied," you said. Both of your parents are muggles, and since this was a muggle activity, you were the leader for this event. You showed them each how to dress, reminded the younger people to not have their wands out, and to just have fun. You were actually driving everyone to this event. Considering it was a total of 9 Weasley's and 3 'honorary' Weasley's, my car was enchanted to hold everyone in it. That way everyone could comfortable sit in my car, but people outside could only see the front seats, back seats and a trunk.

Once you finally arrived at the laser tag place, you made sure nobody was around to watch the Weasley's pour out like it's a clown car. 

"Hi there, we've got a reservation under (Y/L/N)." You told the people at the desk. 

"Alright, Miss (Y/N), correct?" The guy said.

"Correct,"

"And there's 12 people in your group, correct?"

"Correct,"

"Alright well if you guys could just follow my colleague, he will get you all set up and ready to play." The desk worker said. You said thanks and followed the guy back to a room where they have the sensors and the laser guns.

"Alright, have any of you played laser tag before?" He asked. Since you were the only one, he went over the rules with them and the safety stuff. "Now that you know about the game, are you guys ready to split into teams?" 

"I want to be team captain!" Fred said.

"But I want to be team captain!" George whined.

"Here's a thought, how about you guys are both team captains, and play against each other for once," you suggested.

"Brilliant idea from the wonderful (Y/N). I call (Y/N)!" Fred exclaimed!

"Fine then, I'll take Harry." George huffed. 

Soon everyone was split into teams. On the green team was Fred, (Y/N), Ginny, Charlie, Molly, and Hermione. On the blue team was George, Harry, Ron, Bill, Arthur, and Percy.

We all split into our teams and put on our vests. Soon we all went into the dark room and split off into hiding spaces before the game began. 

The room was so dark that all you could really see is people's vests and the blocks had lights around the edges, mostly so that you didn't bump into them. Nobody seemed to want to make a move yet for some reason. You and Ginny had hidden together, so you looked to her, and motioned for her to go the other way. She nodded, and counted to three and you both jumped out and ran around looking for blue vests to shoot.

You managed to get Percy, Harry, and Arthur on your quick run. Arthur was the only one out of them who managed to hit you back! He seemed to really be enjoying this. He was the next person to run around trying to shoot people. You could tell when he shot Molly because all you could hear was, "Oh I'm sorry honey, I didn't think it was you!" And the you heard, "Oh alright then, I see how it is!" once Molly shot back at him. 

Soon everyone was running out from their hiding spots and shooting at each other, even Percy had started to get into it! After your third time running out, you needed a breath, so you found a good hiding spot behind a couple of blocks, gun ready incase someone came back. Everyone else was still running around out there. You heard someone running towards you, so you held your gun up, ready to shoot. 

"Hold up girl, put the gun down." They said. You thought it was George, but based on the green vest it had to be Fred.

"Sorry Fred, I thought you were George. I honestly had to look at the vest to tell," You said.

"Wow (Y/N), I thought you and Harry were the only ones who cared enough to tell us apart. I'm hurt," he said, putting a hand to his heart. 

"Oh hush, you know darn well I can tell you two apart. I guess my eyes just haven't fully adjusted," you explained. However, it did sound more like George to you. Your mind must just be playing tricks on you. 

"I know, I know (Y/N), why do you think we never prank you or Harry?" He asked as he leaned against the wall beside you. 

"Honestly, I hadn't thought anything of it. I always just fear you guys are going to pull a big prank on me," you shrugged. You honestly hadn't even noticed that the two people that they haven't pranked before were the two people who've always been able to tell the difference between the twins. 

"This is a rough game, didn't think a muggle sport would be tougher than Quidditch," He said breathlessly.

"This is true, but I also haven't played since I was about 10 years old. And I look a lot different than I did when I was 10," you said, gesturing to yourself. 

"I'm sure 10 year old you was a hottie as well," he said, winking at you.

"Oh shut up, that's a little weird. You sure you're not George? He's the twin that flirts with me all the time," you said, shoving his shoulder.

"Oh come on (Y/N), you know you love it when Georgie flirts with you," he said, wrapping his arm around you.  
"You know darn well I do, and you're the only one who knows," you laughed, shrugging his arm off your shoulders. 

"Well, what if I told you that I wasn't the only one who knew?" he nervously said.

"What? What do you mean you're not the only one who knows?! Did you tell him?" you quickly whisper yelled at him, raising your gun to him.

"Actually, you did." he said. You confusingly lowered your gun, studying your surroundings, but you two were the only ones nearby. 

"What do you mean...oh no..." you said as you looked at his vest. Suddenly the green vest was shifting back to a blue color. You were right before, it was George!

"Well, it's good to know that the simple color changer works very well on muggle products. And it's good to know something else," said George as he walked towards you. 

You were cornered and had nowhere to go. Your feet were frozen to that spot out of the sheer horror that you just confessed your admiration to your crush. He walked up to you, pushed your hair out of your face, and slowly brushed his lips against yours. You stood there in total shock, this is not what you expected at all. You're not quite sure what you actually expected, but this wasn't it. He slowly kissed you, and you finally mustered up the courage to kiss him back. 

The kiss was a little awkward and nervous, but it was also sweet, like most first kisses are. He pulled away and looked into your eyes as you let out a shaky breath that you didn't realize you were holding. You just stood there trying to comprehend what just happened, your pulse was racing and your mind started going into overdrive thinking about what happened and if it was even real or not.

Before you came fully to your senses, you faintly heard George say, "Sorry Love," right before he brought up his gun and shot your vest before booking it across the room to a new hiding spot.

Soon, your reserved time was up, and everyone headed back out and piled back into your enchanted car.

"I can't believe we only lost by one point? How on earth did that happen?" Ginny asked as she got in the passenger seat next to you.

"Umm, well, you see...I may have had something to do with that," you softly said to her.

"What? How?" She whispered to you. You turned around in the car and see everyone talking and not paying any attention to you and Ginny.

"George may or may not have tricked me into thinking he was Fred, kissed me, shot me, and then ran to where I couldn't find him for the rest of the game," you whispered to her.

"Wait, What!" She exclaimed. 

"Shush, I don't want to draw too much attention to it right now," you hushed her. 

Once everyone had settled down, you started driving back to the burrow. Everyone was fairly quiet, only a few whisper conversations were going on at the time. Every time you looked in the rear view mirror you would be able to see George. Anytime he saw you looking at him, he would wink at you before continuing his conversation.

You all finally arrived back at the burrow, and everyone slipped out of your car and headed inside to go to bed, as it was already quite late. You had just shut your door when you felt an arm grab your waist and push you up against the car.

"Hello darling, I hope I didn't hurt your feelings too much earlier by beating you in laser tag," George smirked as he pushed your hair out of your face.

"You tricked me, and confused me by acting like Fred. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little hurt," you said, wrapping your arms around his neck.

"Well Well then, I guess I'll just have to make you feel better," he said as he brought his face down to you. The tips of your noses were now touching.

"I guess you will," you said right before closing the gap between you two. This kiss was more confident than the first. He held your cheek with one hand and pulled you closer by your waist with his other hand. You held his cheeks and brought his face down closer to yours, making it easier to kiss him since he was a good bit taller than you. 

Suddenly, you just heard an awkward cough. You both jumped away from each other, only to find Fred leaning on the car. 

"Um, mum wants us all in the house," he said, eyeing the two of you.

"Oh okay, we will head inside in a second," George said, brushing a hand through his hair.

"(Y/N), please don't tell me this is why we lost by one point," Fred said, gesturing to his brother who was walking a few feet ahead of you two.

"Okay, then I won't tell you," you said, shrugging your shoulders.

"(Y/N), how on earth did he trick you?" He said.

"Let's just say that it was dark, and whatever color changing product you guys are currently working on, does in fact work.”


	3. Draco Malfoy-Questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re the Hufflepuff prefect, Draco is the Slytherin prefect. You’ve never really gotten along before, but tonight you find out why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again, I got this idea from Pinterest *tucks hair behind ear*

"Watch where you're going, Mudblood," Draco Malfoy seethed at you when you bumped into him as you were turning a corner. You just rolled you're eyes and continued walking, biting your tongue from telling him that he was the one walking on the wrong side of the hallway. 

Draco seemed to enjoy making your life hell whenever he could. You didn't really understand why. You kept to yourself, you were always fairly nice to people, and you weren't someone who was quick to judge others. Everyone was equally nice to you, except for him.

You headed to to the Great Hall to grab some dinner before it was time to do your prefect duties. Grabbing some chicken and mashed potatoes, you sat there and studied for an upcoming Potions quiz. Potions never really was your subject, after all. 

"On your right you will see a sad little girl, studying for the easiest potions test we will ever have. All because her little mudblood brain can't remember that order does, in fact, matter when brewing Draught of Peace." Draco said as he walked by your table on his way to his usual spot in the Great Hall. Why is he even here? You had just run into him going the opposite direction in the corridors, what was he doing? You just shook your head and continued studying. 

Soon, it was time to start your prefect duties, but you still couldn't remember the order of ingredients for tomorrows potion. While you headed up to meet up with the other prefect you brought up your potions book to try and memorize. 

"Still having trouble Miss. (Y/N)? " Dumbledore said to you once you arrived to the corridor outside of his office. 

"I keep forgetting the order of ingredients. I'm just trying to cram everything in before tomorrows quiz," you explained to him. 

"Well then, it's a good thing that the other prefect seems to excel in potions," he said, "Oh look, here he comes," he said, gesturing to the boy walking around the corner. 

"Why hello Mr. Draco. Now that you're both here, I will tell you the duties for tonight. As usual, you are to walk the corridors and note any suspicious activity, and make sure students are not where they shouldn't be. I will also be adding something new to your duties. After you walk the corridors a couple times, you two are actually going to study. I understand that Miss. (Y/N) is having trouble with a potion for tomorrow. I also understand that Mr. Draco is one of the top students in Potions. Therefore, one of your duties tonight, Mr. Draco, is to assist Miss. (Y/N) on her studies," Dumbledore told us. 

You knew there would be no changing his mind so you just nodded my head and started heading down the corridor. Draco also realized arguing wouldn't work, so he just mumbled a thank you to the Headmaster and walked behind you. 

It was a quiet, awkward walk around the corridors for a while. It wasn't until you spotted a couple students out of bed when something was even said.

"Hey Draco, there's a couple people out in that stairway, could you go say something?" You asked.

"Why, can't do it yourself? Too scared someone else will dislike you?" he retorted.

"Actually, it's because they're Slytherin and I figured they'd listen to a Slytherin prefect vs. a Hufflepuff prefect, but whatever, I'll do it myself," you stated. "Hey guys, it's after hours, please go ahead and head back to your common rooms."

They turned around and went to say something to me and then saw Draco standing behind me and decided against it. I wrote down their names to turn in to the Headmaster once we finished our prefect duties. 

"How did you even end up being a prefect? You can barely handle telling a couple kids to go to bed," Draco said to you. 

"Because I have good grades, I'm nice to people, and people respect me so they do what I say," you explained to him. He just huffed, not having anything to add to it. 

Soon you guys were passing a random mirror, and being who he is, Draco had to stop at it and make sure he looked good.

"Really? It's dark out nobody cares what you look like," you said, annoyed that he was taking forever.

"You're lucky that out of everything at Hogwarts, mirrors can't talk. Lucky for you they can't laugh either. Can you even reach this mirror? I swear, if you were any shorter you'd fade out of existence," he seethed at you. 

"I don't like being alone, but every time you're near me I wished I was! You make my life a living hell when I've done absolutely nothing to you! I've always been nice to you, even when you've just been a total ass to me!" you yelled back, finally done with Draco's shit. 

He just looked at you wide-eyed, shocked that you even responded to him. You stared at him, waiting for a response. After no avail, you huffed and turned around and stomped away. 

"Wait, Wait! Where are you going?" You heard him yell behind you, running to catch up.

"Away from you. I don't deserve to get treated like I'm you're bloody house-elf. I've done nothing but be nice to you, no matter what, you just degrade me and walk all over me! Well, I'm sick of it. I thought maybe one day, you'd finally be nice to me, or at east explain what personal vendetta you seem to have with me. But no, I guess you just see me as a a rug that you can just walk over and wipe your feet on!" you yelled at him, still angrily stomping ahead of him. 

You were stopped suddenly by a hand grabbing your wrist and turning you around. 

"What..." you started, but were quickly interrupted by Draco smashing his lips onto yours. You froze up for a second, not quite sure what was happening. Once you realized the situation, you pushed yourself away from him. "What are you doing? What was that? What is happening right now?" you babbled, very confused as to why he would do such a thing.

"Do you know why I've always been so mean to you?" Draco asked, looking down at his feet.

"Did you even listen to me? I literally just gave a big speech about how I don't understand why you're so mean to me," you said.

"You make me question everything I've ever learned from my parents," he quickly said, grabbing your hands.

"What, what do you mean by that?" you asked.

"I was always taught that pureblood families are superior to others. That mudbloods shouldn't even be allowed at Hogwarts because they didn't come from a wizard family. I always believed them until I met you. You have always been nice to people, and you're one of the smartest witches here, and one of the most beautiful too, and that scared me. So I was always just mean to you, in hopes that it wouldn't scare me anymore," he said looking you in the eyes.

"So what you're telling me, is that you were mean to me, a 5' 3" Hufflepuff, because you thought I was pretty?" you asked, putting your hands on your hips.

"Umm...yes..." he stuttered.

"Are you realizing how stupid that is?" you said sternly.

"Well, now that it's all been said and done, yes..." he said, crossing his arms.

"Are you at least going to be nice to me now?" you asked, taking a step closer.

"Yes, I promise I will be nice," he said.

"Well then, it's a date," you said, grabbing his hand and beginning to walk around again.

"Wait, what?" he asked, genuinely confused that you hadn't hexed him or completely run off.

"To be honest, I always found you very attractive Malfoy, but you were always such a prat to me that I just left it alone," you shrugged.

You two continued walking for a bit, both a little confused at what has happened, but both glad that it cleared the air a bit. Suddenly, Draco stopped in his tracks and pulled you in for a hug.

"I'm so sorry (Y/N). I don't know why I thought being a dick would help get rid of my crush on you. I just didn't know what to do about it, and once I had fully realized what I was doing, I was in way too deep..." Draco rambled, squeezing you tight.

"Oh, okay, okay Draco, it's alright. No need to crush my soul, I'm not a horcrux," you said, trying to get him to let go of you at least a little bit. Once you realized there was no hope for release, you relaxed and just held him. "Draco, you really don't need to worry, I'm someone who's quick to forgive, maybe too quick, but that's just who I am,"

Once he relaxed his grip, you stepped back a little bit and put one hand on his cheek. Looking into his eyes, you could see that he was upset, and that today took a toll on him. Though he made your life a living hell, he looked sorry, and he looked so sad. You felt bad for him. Maybe it wasn't entirely his fault, from the way he just talked about things, it seems like he isn't in the best situation at home. You looked into his eyes and rubbed his cheek softly, he put his hand up to mine and held it against his cheek.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." he kept mumbling. You couldn't take any more rambling, so you grabbed his face and kissed him. He quickly melted into it, one hand around your waist, the other on your cheek. You stepped back a bit and looked him in the eyes, he just looked back, confused still. "Why are you even forgiving me?"

"Everyone deserves second chances, even you Malfoy. Now come on we have one more round to make, and then you have some potion lessons to teach me," you said, dragging him behind you as you continued your walk around the hallways of Hogwarts.


	4. Harry Potter-Kiss Cam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts has decided to implement a new thing for quidditch games. Similar to the muggle “Kiss Cam”, except it chooses people with the most chemistry, and if they don’t kiss they get a bludger to the face.

Today was the first match of the quidditch season, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. It was also the first match where they were going to introduce something new. They're called Kiss Cams, and they focus on the people with the most chemistry, and those people then have to kiss if they don't want a bludger to start targeting them. It's a new thing they're testing out based on what they do at muggle sports games.

"Hey (Y/L/N), heard about the kiss cam that's debuting at today's game? Hope you're ready for a nice big kiss on the field," Marcus Flint, your team captain, winked at you. 

"In your dreams, Flint," you rolled your eyes and continued eating. 

"Good luck today, Potter," you said as he, Ron, and Hermione walked past your table. 

"Good luck to you too, (Y/L/N). You'll be needing it," he winked at you and went to his normal spot in the great hall. You just blushed and quickly finished eating so you could go do warm-ups before the game. 

Today is your first game as seeker for Slytherin, and you were pretty nervous about it. You've done pretty well in practices, but this is the first game, and it's against Gryffindor of all houses. You were in the tunnel and started doing some stretches, in the hopes it would help calm down your nerves. You started to stretch your hamstrings when you heard someone whistle at you.

"Warming up for our big kiss on the field (Y/L/N)? I've been warming up too," Marcus said to you as he popped in a piece of gum. 

"I'm warming up for the game, Flint. No way in hell are we kissing on the field, or anywhere else for that matter. I'd rather let the bludger get me," you said to him, annoyed at his comments. You continued stretching. 

"Are you nervous (Y/L/N)?" you heard someone say. You looked up and Harry potter was standing there in his robes and with his broom, ready to go onto the field.

"I'm a little nervous. This is my first game, and the fact that Flint is constantly just hitting on me instead of helping me, really doesn't help me," you said, awkwardly laughing at the end. 

"Well, I've seen you out there during practices. You may just give me a run for my money," he said, trying to help you loosen your nerves. 

"Thanks, I needed that," you said, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. Which reminds you, you should pull your hair back soon.

Harry pulled you into a hug, and squeezed you tight. You've been acquaintances since the first year at Hogwarts, but didn't really get to talk much given what houses you were in. 

"You'll be fine, I promise (Y/N)," he whispered in your ear before letting go of you. You could feel your cheeks burn as he walked away from you. You quickly pulled your hair back into a ponytail and grabbed your broom, ready to take the field. Harry was always very attractive to you, but you have always just pushed those feelings down, especially since there's been rumors lately about him liking someone. Though you didn't know who it was, you were sure it wasn't you.

Slytherin went onto the field first, you could hear most of the crowd booing. The school wasn't exactly fond of Slytherin, but it didn't seem to bother you guys. As soon as Gryffindor headed out, the crowd cheered way louder than you thought they possibly could. You looked to Harry and he winked at you when he caught you staring. This is the second time he's winked at you today, and you're pretty sure it's only two times he's ever winked at you. Before you started to overthink it, you decided he's just trying to distract you from the game.

Soon the game had begun, you were just trying to avoid getting hit by the bludgers, or the Weasley twins. You hovered over the game, dodging any trouble that came your way. Soon you could hear Lee Jordan making announcements about the kiss cam.

"Well well well guys, it's time to see who's got the most chemistry in the stadium. Get your lips ready ladies and gents," Jordan said over the mic. The scoreboard transformed to show scans of the audience and the game, soon it was split screen and trying to find people chemistry.

"First up on the big screen, Draco Malfoy! And who's his counterpart... Hermione Granger? Well, isn't that an odd couple. You know, I heard Hermione punched him in the 3rd year, and it was awesome!" Jordan exclaimed over the mic. McGonagall snacked him on the shoulder when he started talking about the punch.

"You guys better hurry up, I have a feeling that even the Weasley twins won't be able to handle the bludger targeting you guys after too long. Well, except for you Hermione, you're probably safe." Lee said, receiving another smack from McGonagall.

Hermione and Draco looked incredibly shocked. Draco mumbled something to himself and went over to Hermione. He quickly kissed her on the cheek, hoping that would stop the bludger.

"Tsk tsk, I'm afraid that isn't going to cut it! Pucker up!" Jordan said before making kissing noises into the mic. Draco shot him a dirty look, but that look was quickly replaced with fear when he saw a bludger coming towards them at high speed. He quickly grabbed Hermione's face and kissed her hard. The crowd burst into gasps and whistles. As soon as he kissed her, the bludger stopped dead in it's tracks, about a foot away from their faces, and flew the opposite direction.

"Alright wizards and witches, now that we are all throughly confused about what just happened, let's get back to the game! While Malfoy and Granger were locking lips, Slytherin scored 20 points! Now Gryffindor is only leading by 10 points. Still no sign of the Golden Snitch." Jordan updated everyone.

You continued hovering above the game, hoping to catch sight of gold. 

"I don't even think they've released it yet, it's pretty early in the game. Ever since I won in under five minutes my first year, they've been releasing it a big later in the games," Harry startled you, almost knocking you off your broom.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" you crossed your arms and raised your eyebrows up at him.

"Looks like you'll just have to trust me," he shrugged before flying to the other side of the field.

You had to keep reminding yourself that he's probably just trying to get into your head. After looking down at the field for another 10 agonizing minutes, with the only glimpse of gold being one of Dumbledore's rings, you looked up to see if Harry was doing anything. He wasn't even looking at the field, he was just staring at you. When you caught him staring at you, he blushed a little and looked down onto the game. 

"Is everyone ready for take two on the kiss cam? I know I am after the shocker we got in take one! Who's the lucky couple going to be?" Jordan said over the mic. 

Again, the scoreboard turned into a split-screen view of everyone. This time, instead of focusing more on the crowd, it began focusing more on the game. 

"Our first person is... Fred Weasley! Who will his matchmaker pick? Ooo, Angelina Johnson! Darn, this one was expected. No where near as fun as the rivals from take one!" Jordan exclaimed. 

Fred flew over to the Gryffindor chaser, and his girlfriend, Angelina Johnson. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek first. The bludger was coming closer and closer, and George was no where near them to wack it out of the way. Right before it would've knocked Angelina off of her broom, he wacked the ball in the opposite direction and kissed Angelina passionately. The crowd awwed at them, except for some of the first years, who were childishly making gagging noises.

"That was a close call there! I thought we were going to witness a murder if Fred would've let the bludger knock his girlfriend off her broom, only Fred would've been the dead one!" Jordan laughed.

"I've got to keep you guys on your toes! Plus it's a nice distraction so that Gryffindor could score 10 more points!" Fred said into Jordan's mic. 

Surely enough, when the scoreboard returned, Gryffindor was up to 40 points, leaving Slytherin at 20. You looked down at your team, and they weren't doing too hot. Crabbe and Goyle, Slytherin's beaters, kept getting hit by the bludgers, and Flint was too busy watching the scoreboard instead of trying to put points on it. 

Soon, the game was tied and you still hadn't caught sight of the snitch, and by the way he was acting, Harry hadn't either. Suddenly, you saw a flash of gold all the way at the other end of the field, it was flying towards you. You didn't go after it, and you tried to act like you didn't see it at all. Harry was a much better flyer than you, and could easily catch the snitch if he saw you dive bomb after it.

"Time for our third pair of love doves! Everybody, drumroll please!" Jordan said as everyone stomped their feet in the stands, awaiting to see who had chemistry with who. "First up, Mr. Harry Potter! Now who will be his chosen one?" Jordan said with a smirk. "(Y/N)(Y/L/N)! This years new Slytherin seeker looks to have found someone to 'slytherin' with,"

You're heart started racing as you saw Harry smirk and fly over to you. You were both in the middle of the field, brooms facing opposite ways to make it less likely to fall off. The heart beat in your chest was so loud you almost didn't hear McGongall scolding Jordan for his last remark. Harry cupped your cheek with his hand, and kissed your cheek. 

"Just trust me," he said in response to your nervous face. His other hand grabbed your waist and pulled you in for a passionate kiss. You used one hand to steady yourself on your broom, and the other snaked around his neck and held on tightly to him. 

You two seemed to have forgotten about the game. Whatever tension or frustration that was building up between you two went into this kiss. He really didn't seem to care that just about all of Hogwarts was watching, he just held you tight and kept kissing you. 

When you heard a faint buzzing sound, you knew you had to think quick so you decided to take a risk. You bit Harry's bottom lip lightly, hoping it would be a good distraction, and snatched the Golden Snitch from beside him. You pulled away from him, winked, and quickly flew away. 

"Merlin, she caught the snitch! Now I see why (Y/N) is in Slytherin, that was a very cunning trick! This means Slytherin wins the match!" Jordan yelled, excited from whatever chaos you had just caused by catching the snitch mid-kiss. 

Once you were back on the ground you gave your team high-fives and hugs, extremely excited that you won your first game! Even some of the Gryffindors congratulated you. Though you guys were rivals, you did get along with most of them off the field. Harry ran up to you, picked you up and spun you in a circle with the biggest smile on his face. 

"Well, aren't you just a happy loser," you giggled as he put you down. 

"I can't even be mad about it, I know a great catch when I see one. And you getting the snitch was cool too," he winked at you. You blushed again, this time hiding your face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around you and put his head on top of yours, and you two lightly rocked side to side. You weren't quite sure what was happening, but whatever it was, was cute. 

"Hey (Y/N), would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" Harry softly asked.

"Like, on a date?" you questioned, stepping back to look at him.

'Yeah, like on a date," he said, leaning so that your noses touched and whispered, "Is that okay with you?"

"That sounds pretty okay to me," you shakily said, nervous at how close his lips were to yours.

"Trust me, if it's anything like I've been imagining it will be more than okay," he whispered before closing the gap between you in a passionate kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Genuinely I think this is my favorite chapter I’ve ever written.


	5. Fred Weasley- The Little Pink Candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You agree to test a new product that the twins have been working on, but it doesn’t work like you think it will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again, I am informing you that I took this prompt off of Pinterest.

Waking up with a dagger to your neck is just as scary as you think. Waking up with the Weasley twins in your face is scarier. Sure enough, there they were at the edge of my bed, looming over me as I slept, or tried to.

"Woah guys, what are you doing?" I shouted, covering up with the blanket out of fear, even though I was wearing sweats and a large T-shirt.

"Calm down love, we just need you to test a product for us," Fred said, holding up a small, bubblegum pink candy,

"That's honestly less of a reason to calm down, and you know it," I said flopping back down into my pillow.

"Please?" George looked up with big puppy dog eyes.

"Why can't you have someone else try it?" 

"We trust you the most to not hex us if a weird side effect happens."explained George.

"Do I have to try it right this second?"

"We could always come and wake you up earlier tomorrow," Fred said.

"Fine, give me whatever that is," I popped the little round candy into my mouth and waited for something to happen. Nothing happened.

"Oh yeah, it takes a couple hours to really set in," Fred yelled to as they left the room. Groaning in response, I laid back down on my bed and just hoped it didn't try to kill me in my sleep.

~~~~~

Awakening from my sleep, I had almost forgotten about the candy Fred and George gave me. Nothing felt weird to me. Has the candy set in yet, or did they make a mistake with this batch? Deciding to ignore the questions that popped up about this strange pink candy, I got dressed in jeans and a sweater and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Once I sat down in the Great Hall, I was soon accompanied by the twins across from me. No words were said as we ate breakfast, but I could feel their eyes on me, checking to see how their product was working.

"How are you feeling?" George finally asked.

"Honestly, I don't feel any different. Maybe this batch is just a dud, but what is it supposed to do anyways?" 

"We will figure something out, that one should have worked though," Fred looked to George, ignoring my question. They talked amongst themselves about how to fix this batch, leaving me to finish my breakfast in peace. 

"I'm going to go work on some stuff, if you need me I'll be out in the courtyard." I told the boys as I got up to leave. 

Sitting down in the courtyard, I grabbed my notebook and began going over my notes for potions. Whilst reading over them, I would get distracted and begin absentmindedly drawing in the margins of the paper. Soon the page was filled with random drawings and symbols, and I had only memorized half of what I needed memorized for the potions quiz on Monday. 

"Hey Amanda, how's your studying coming along?" I turned around to find David behind me, coming to sit down on the bench next to me. David is in the same potions class as me, and we've talked a couple times, but we are nothing more than acquaintances.

"It's coming I guess, I keep getting distracted and drawing instead of studying though." Gesturing to my notebook, I showed David my little drawings that I had created, carefully putting my thumb over one drawing in particular that was a little embarrassing. He looked over my doodles and laughed a little, knowing I've always been easily distracted when trying to study for things. 

"Well then," he looped an arm around my shoulder, "those are some beautiful drawings, but that's not what I came over here for,"

"What did you come over here for then?" I said, suddenly very uncomfortable due to his arm being wrapped around my shoulder. 

"There's a trip to Hogsmeade next weekend, how's about we go on a little date?" he said flirtatiously and winked.

"Oh...umm, well that," I stumbled ,trying to say no without upsetting him. He's always been nice to me, but I've never had any interest at all in him.

As if they could tell I needed help, there was suddenly a boy on the other side of me wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me to his side. "Sorry mate, she's already agreed to be my date next weekend,"

"Yeah, sorry David," I played along with it, relieved that I was out of that uncomfortable situation.

"My bad man, I didn't know. I'll see you in potions Amanda," David left the courtyard, probably looking to ask someone else out.

"Thank you so much Fred," I whispered, hugging the boy who had helped me out of a sticky situation. He held me tightly while he told me how he knew I needed help. Once we pulled away from the hug I caught him looking at my notebook. Quickly closing it shut, I smiled at him and leaned on his shoulder and asked, "So Fred, will you please tell me what that candy was supposed to do?"

He didn't answer right away, he almost looked guilty about it. What on earth is this candy supposed to even do, and why hadn't it worked? All of their products have at least done something before, this one did nothing to me. 

"Sorry love, I'm still not going to tell you what it's supposed to do," he stated. I pouted and looked up to him with the puppy dog eyes I tend to use to get things that I want. "Stop it with the puppy dog eyes Amanda. You know I'm weak,"

"Please Freddy, why are you keeping secrets from me?" Getting an answer out of this boy is turning out to be much harder than I planned. This is honestly all I've got and if it doesn't work, I'm just stuck not knowing what the product is that they're testing. 

"No, I'm sorry love but I can't tell you what the product is. Honestly, you may not even test the next batch, we may have to get someone else to test it. I just don't know who else would be willing to help us and not hex us..." He trailed off, scanning the courtyard. Soon he caught the eye of one of my dormmates, and quickly went over to talk to her. I sat on the bench and curiously watched their interaction. She slowly nodded, and took a pink candy from him and popped it in her mouth. Nothing strange seemed to happen, but they did say it would take a little bit of time for it to set in. 

~~~~~

I went to my dorm room for a break from studying, soon my dormmate Paige was sitting at the end of my bed just staring at me. Her eyes looked a little glazed over, and she wasn't one to just sit on others bed's and just stare at them until they started the conversation. Usually she doesn't stop talking, what's up with her? Is this part of the effects of that little pink candy I watched her take from Fred?

"What's up Paige?" I hesitated.

"You're friends with Fred, right?" She quickly asked, suddenly sitting cross legged on the end of my bed early awaiting an answer. I just nodded at her and she immediately inched closer. "Does he ever talk about me?" 

"Paige, he barely knows you, and you barely know him," I slowly stated, very confused about the situation.

"Could you introduce us then?" When she said that I just looked at her in shock. Why does she suddenly want to meet my best friend, and the guy she knows I like? She's never had any interest in him at all before. 

"Why do you want me to introduce you to him? You've never cared for him before," I questioned, starting to get a little angry. 

"Well, I've never realized just how cute he is! He's so tall, he's got such a cute face, and oh Merlin I am such a sucker for redheads," She rambled. 

"You hate redheads. You specifically told me once that you would never want to date a redhead because you've never seen a cute boy with red hair. In fact, you said that after I started hanging out with the twins, so what's with the sudden change in heart?" I crossed my arms and stared at her. Her eyes were still glazed over and she had a smile plastered on her face that has yet to go away, even after I called her out. 

Suddenly, I realized what that little pink candy was supposed to do.

~~~~~

"Fred Weasley! Why did you slip a love potion to my dormmate?" I whisper yelled to him once I found him in the Great Hall. 

"I've actually got a question for you to answer first," George stated from the other side of you, "Fred said he saw a little drawing you did in your notebook,"

"That says, 'I Love Weasley' in a heart. So tell us love, which of us is it?" Fred finished.

"Why would it be either of you?" I stated, crossing my arms and trying to make it look like I was telling the truth.

"Well, Bill is slightly too old for you, Charlie is in Romania, Percy is Percy, you said yourself that Ron gets on your nerves, and you're not interested in girls so it's not Ginny," George listed.

"So, which of us do you fancy?" Fred asked.

"That's not important right now, what's important is you telling me why Paige is suddenly infatuated with you Fred," you retorted.

"Well I told you that you may not test the next batch of candies, so instead we used Paige to test the first batch to make sure we hadn't messed up the batch as much as we it thought," he responded with a smirk. "So it looks like we didn't mess up the first batch, and I believe I know which Weasley you fancy now," 

"What, what are you talking about," I stuttered.  
"We've done a lot of research on love potions: side effects it can have, what to do if it goes wrong, and what it means if nothing happens at all to the person you give a love potion to," he explained.

"Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten about that last part Freddie. You said you had no reactions at all to the potion, correct?" George questioned.

"Correct," I said slowly, unsure of where they were going with this.

"You see, love potions are useless on someone who's already infatuated with the person it's designed for," Fred started.

"Since we designed this batch for the person to fall for Fred, and the potion didn't even do a single thing to you, I'd have to say he's the lucky twin who got a special drawing in your potion notes," George finished. I didn't even know what to do at that point. I just stood there blubbering about like a total fool, telling little lies simply because I was completely embarrassed.

"Shhh love, it's okay calm down. George, how about you give us a little bit of privacy," Fred said, shoving his brother away. George winked at us and walked away. I just stood there waiting for my imminent rejection.

"Why didn't you tell me you liked me, Amanda?" Fred whispered quietly, looking almost as scared as I was. 

"I didn't want to ruin a friendship. So before you tell me that you don't like me back, let's just act like this never happened and then nothing has to change," I said, turning around to walk away. His hand reached out and caught my wrist and pulled me back around.

"What if I want things to change?" He looked at at me with hopeful eyes. I just stared at him and watched his face lower down to mine, resting his forehead on mine before breathlessly whispering, "Is it okay if I kiss you?" 

With that, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his. He quickly responded, putting his arms on my lower back and kissing me slowly. Butterflies erupted in my stomach, and I swear I felt his pulse quicken as he kissed me. I pulled away slowly, frozen in shock of that kiss even happening. 

Noticing my reaction, he smirked and kissed my cheek. "Relax Love, if you really want nothing to change, then tell me. If you are okay with things changing, let me take you on that Hogsmeade date next weekend," he said as he turned around to walk away. 

I grabbed his wrist and turned him around to face me, "Maybe change wouldn't be such a bad thing.”


	6. Cedric Diggory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and your friends attend a frat party, and you meet up with a very interesting exchange student from England.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: mentions of alcohol, sexually suggestive content  
> Fun fact: I wrote the chapters before this during freshman year of college, and now we are getting into the stuff I started writing during senior year.

Warnings: mentions of alcohol use

The best part of being in college is college parties. Drinks, games, and dancing in a room full of strangers is something I never thought I would love, but it's my favorite thing about college. A small group of my friends got invited to a frat party and decided to go. 

"Chloe, are you ready to go?" My roommate Amy yelled from outside the bathroom. I finished putting on my lipstick and met her and my two other friends in our kitchen.

"Okay, who's DD this round?" I asked. 

"I was DD last round, it's between you two this time." Devin pointed at Amy and me. We sigh and do our normal decision making game: Rock Paper Scissors. 

"Haha! I win! Chloe gets to DD this time." Amy dances around me after winning with a rock against my scissors. 

"Yeah yeah, okay, come on then. Everyone pile into my car. Reminders that there is no throwing up in my car, bringing strangers home if the group vetos them, and no going home with people the group vetos." I said as I grabbed my car keys.

I stood in the corner of the dirty dining room drinking my solo cup of water as I watched Amy and Devin lose beer pong to a couple of frat boys. Amy chugged her White Claw while Devin took a shot of cheap vodka as the frat duo sank the ball in the last cup.

"Oh come on guys! You're better than this!" I yell at my friends.

"Yeah like you can do better!" Devin rebutted. 

"Given the amount of shots I've done compared to yours, I can definitely do better." 

"Fine! Let's see you do it then! You and whoever versus Amy and me. Whoever looses DD's next time." He slurred, "After the next game though, I need a break." 

"Need a partner?" Someone with a British accent asked. I looked towards the sound of the voice and found a tall attractive man with chiseled features and dark hair leaning against the wall next to me. 

"Umm yeah sure, if you wouldn't mind," I shrugged and said, "I'm Chloe by the way."

"That's a beautiful name, I'm Cedric," he said, pushing himself up from the wall.

"Do you go to school here?" I asked, trying to make small talk with this beautiful man that just agreed to play with me.

"I'm sorry, what?" He leaned down for me to talk in his ear. I repeated the question but he shook his head, saying he couldn't hear me. He then put out his hand and pointed in the direction of the kitchen. I took his hand and followed him out of the now absurdly loud room where frat boys were yelling and blasting music. The kitchen was much quieter, with only a few people coming in and out to get drinks.

"Now what were you saying, love?" He asked as he grabbed a beer from the cooler.

"Oh, I was just asking if you went to school here," I said while leaning my back into the counter.

"Yeah, I'm an exchange student, if you couldn't tell by the accent." He laughed before taking a swig of the cheap beer.

"That's really cool, I've always wanted to do something like that! But I'm already a senior, so maybe I'll get my masters somewhere else,"

"Well, if you find yourself in Britain, I can be your personal guide," he winked. I blushed and tried to hide it by taking a big sip of water. 

"Chloe, you ready to get your ass handed to you?!" Amy yelled from the doorway of the kitchen. 

"I don't know, are you ready to be DD next week?" I laughed and headed into the dining room. 

"Who's the pretty boy?" Devin asked as Cedric and I started setting up our side of the table.

"Cedric," I responded.

"Oh so you think I'm pretty too?" Cedric smirked.

"Alright who's going first." I quickly changed the subject. Flirting is not my strong suit, and while I do think Cedric is flirting, I don't know how to respond to it. 

"Heads or tails," a frat boy asked Amy and Devin as he flipped a coin in the air.

"Tails!" Devin drunkenly yelled.

"Heads, pretty boys team goes first," the frat boy gestured to our side of the table.

"Ladies first," Cedric said, stepping to the side. I threw the ping pong ball and watched it bounce off the edge of the cups and land in the floor. 

"Oh by the way, I'm not exactly the best at this game. Even when I am completely sober," I told Cedric. 

"Oh, I think we will be fine," Cedric said as he sank his shot into a cup without even looking at it. 

"Oh shit, oh shit, okay, umm Devin you first," Amy said while she put the cup away and they both took a big sip of their drinks. Devin's ball did the same as mine, bouncing off the side of the cup. Cedric caught it before it hit the floor and handing it to me. Amy's shot bounced off a cup and right into Cedric's chest.

"Wait are you sober, too?" Devin pointed at Cedric.

"Afraid not love, I've been drinking all night. I just handle it a little better than others." Cedric said as his shot bounced off of one cup and into the other.

"Haha!! Two big drinks you two!" I said while doing a little celebration dance. As they took their drinks I threw my shot and it miraculously made it in. "Balls back baby!" 

"Would you calm down, it's still early in the game," Amy joked, amused at how amused I was at Cedric and I winning. Soon, it was 3 cups versus 1. If Cedric made this last shot, we would win! 

"Alright, Chloe, shoot your shot." Cedric said as he handed me a ping pong ball. 

"Whoa what? No, you do it. I've missed all but that first one." I shoved it back to him.

"Have a little faith in yourself." He pushed it back to me. 

I sighed and took the ball and haphazardly threw it, fully intending to miss the last cup. 

But instead, it curved the table, lifted up to the dealing, and dived down into the red cup. 

"Whoa, did anybody else see that?!" Devin pointed at the cup.

"See what?" Cedric asked. 

"The... the ball... it did a thing..." Amy responded in shock.

"I know, Chloe made the shot!" Cedric said, acting like it was completely normal.

"But, but it flew! It's like it was magic." Devin said.

"Maybe you two should get some water, I think you've had a bit too much." Cedric said. 

They looked at each other and nodded before heading to the kitchen to hopefully grab waters. I was still confused though. What happened? Because I definitely saw what they saw, and I'm definitely sober.

"Congratulations, looks like you don't have to DD next party," Cedric turned to me.

"I almost feel like I shouldn't DD this party, because I saw what the others saw," I explained.

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing. Just a trick of the eye is all," he winked. Before I could ask him what the fuck that meant he was waving at someone else and walked over to them. I went to find Devin and Amy to see how they were doing.

"Chloe! Over here!" Amy yelled from across the room, drawing way too much attention from others. I quickly walked over to her, hoping she would stop yelling. "That Cedric's a hottie," she whisper yelled. 

"Girl, lower your voice. There's not enough loud music in this room for you to be yelling like that," I told her, and Devin agreed with me:

"But he is, right!? It's not just because I'm drunk?" She whispered.

"Yes, he's actually hot. What about it?" I said.

"You should fuck him," Devin said.

"Woah there buddy. What?" I asked, completely caught off guard.

"I mean, it looked like he was into you," he shrugged.

"So that means I should fuck him?" I crossed my arms.

"I mean, I would," he responded.

"I know you would! We are very different people! I don't plan on hooking up with anybody tonight!" I defended.

"Just making a suggestion, Chlo, you don't have to take it," Devin said before getting another drink.

"Okay so maybe you don't have to fuck him, but like, he was definitely flirting with you," Amy said.

"I know, but I don't know how to respond to that," 

"So you're just going to brush it off?" She asked.

"Maybe, we'll see I guess," I shrugged. 

I jumped up and sat next to her on the counter, watching the party continue from the other room. Everyone was now dancing to the loud music, Devin included. 

Soon I also spotted Cedric dancing in the crowd, only he wasn't alone. Dancing on him was a slim brunette that I had never seen before. She was very pretty, definitely what I imagine his type his. 

"Yo Chlo, let's go danceee," Amy slurred, hopping off the counter. Before I could contest, she had already grabbed my wrist and was dragging me into the room next to Devin.

Amy turned herself around and started grinding on me. I laughed and grabbed her hips, letting her do her thing. Devin got in front of Amy and started grinding on her. I laughed and tried to focus on having fun with my friends, instead of focusing on the beautiful boy that I wish I was dancing with across the room.

I looked up and caught Cedric looking at my group, clearly amused at what was happening. He made eye contact with me and I winked at him as Amy continued her drunken grind on me. He raised his eyebrows at the flirty move and looked me up and down. 

To keep myself from overthinking the interaction, I focused my attention back on Devin and Amy. Devin was having a bit too much fun trying to twerk on Amy but I don't think either of them really cared in this moment.

"Hey there," a soft British voice said in my ear as I felt a couple strong hands grab my waist. Sure enough, Cedric had left the pretty brunette and made his way over to my group. Amy and Devin must have seen him make his was over to me because suddenly they were moving across the room. 

I let my hips swing with the music, wishing I wasn't DD so I could be a bit more carefree. Cedric pulled my hips into his, taking a bit of the control with the dance. This was very unlike me. Even when I drink I don't normally dance on people, let alone people I don't know super well. There's just something enticing about Cedric. 

Suddenly he flipped me around to face him, hands around my waist, hips still swinging with the music. For some reason, I was too anxious to look Cedric in the face while we were dancing so close. Catching Devin's eyes, he gave me a big thumbs up and winked. 

Cedric placed a hand under my chin and turned my face towards his. Thankfully the room was fairly dark so he probably couldn't see how red my cheeks were at this point. I saw his lips moving, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. When I shook my head, he repeated himself but the music was still too loud. I took his hand and pulled him into the kitchen so I could hear what he was saying. 

"Now, what were you saying?" I asked as I jumped up onto the kitchen counter, resting my tired legs for a bit.

"It was a cheesy line, I'm a bit glad you didn't hear it actually." Cedric said, running a hand through his messy hair. 

"Ahh but the thing is, I'm a very curious creature. So now I absolutely have to know what you said," I laughed, intrigued as to what it could've been. 

"What do I get out of it?" He asked, walking towards me.

"I don't know lover boy, why don't you just tell me and you'll see?" I said as he got closer to me. He put his hands beside me on the counter and leaned in. 

"You're lips look lonely, would they like to meet mine?" Cedric said smoothly, eyes darting from my eyes to my lips. 

"That's what you were nervous to say? You came up to me and had me grinding on you in a room full of strangers and you were nervous to tell me a cheesy line?" I laughed. Cedric never moved from his spot, his face inches from mine.

"That doesn't answer my question, love," he said in a more serious tone. 

Without thinking too much about it, I gently grabbed his face and pulled his lips to mine. They were soft and sweet. Despite the amount of alcohol I watched him drink, he didn't taste or smell like he had been drinking at all. One hand grabbed my waist while the other found its way to the nape of my neck. His kisses were soft and sweet, but they soon were deeper and hungry. 

"Hey Chlo, I think we're ready... oh shit! Get it girl!" Amy said, causing Cedric and I to quickly break apart. 

"Awwww did I miss it!" Devin came running in behind her.

"Sooo you guys are ready to go?" I said, hopping down from the counter. They both nodded as they chugged the rest of their drink. "Do you need a ride, Cedric?" 

"Actually yeah I could use one, my roommate went home with someone and he drove here," he said, wiping whatever lipstick had transferred onto his face. 

After dropping off Devin and Amy back at the house, I was soon parked in front of Cedric's apartment. I put the car in park and looked over at Cedric, fully expecting him to just get out of the car and never be seen again. 

But he didn't, he looked over at me and pulled me in for a hungry kiss. This was much deeper and desperate than any of the kisses shared in the frat kitchen. He leaned his seat back and soon I was on top of him and we were making out like two horny high schoolers. 

"Mmm, as much as I am enjoying you on top of me right now, how about we take this inside?" Cedric said breathlessly, moving my hair aside so he could pepper kisses on my neck. I melted into him as he kissed down the side of my neck, lightly grinding my hips down on him. 

"For someone who asked me to go inside, you sure are making it hard to leave this spot," I groaned. He slowly stopped his torment on my neck and gave me a quick kiss before helping me get out of the awkward position I had put myself in. 

I followed him up the stairs to his apartment, which was small, but fairly nice for a college student. I was going to compliment him on the apartment but I was quickly interrupted by him pulling me over and passionately kissing me. His hands pulling my hips to him while mine pulled at his hair. 

"Now where were we, love?" He groaned before leaving wet kisses trailing down my neck.


	7. George-Alumni Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to convince George to attend the Hogwarts Alumni Ball is much harder than you expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: sexually suggestive content. 
> 
> Nobody does the do, but I felt like the TW was still needed.

"Baby, I know you don't want to go but we promised Harry we would," I said as I began putting on makeup. 

"No, you promised Harry we would go. I said nothing of the kind," George argued as he plopped face down onto our bed. 

"Fair point. But you did tell me once you would make it up to me for not taking me to the Yule ball during 5th year. I'd like to cash in that favor now," I retorted. 

"I thought you cashed that in when I married you?" 

"I'd watch calling our marriage a favor babe. That is, unless you suddenly don't want a sex life?" 

"There's an idea! We could stay home and have sex! We could do whatever you want, I'll even let you tie me up!" He bargained, getting up from the bed and coming up behind me to whisper in my ear "Come on baby, doesn't that sound like fun?" 

He moved my hair to one side and began peppering soft kisses on the other side of my neck. I leaned my head back into him, giving in to the brief bit of pleasure before responding. 

"That sounds like a wonderful plan, for AFTER the event." 

"I won't be in the mood then." He argued.

I turned towards him, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and kissed him hard. He melted into the kiss, thinking he's won the argument. I pulled back and looked into his eyes, "Oh, I think I can get you in the mood then." 

I continued with my makeup while he stood behind me, shocked that his usual charm isn't working on me. He laid back on the bed and tried to think of other ways to get out of going with me to Hogwarts for the alumni ball. 

Once I finished my makeup I crawled over to him and straddled his hips. His hands played with the waistband of my sleep shorts while mine played with the bottom of his shirt.

"Listen, if you don't want to go that's fine," I said softly. He sat up and looked at me quizzingly. 

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes, but you have to explain to your mother why you let your beautiful wife go to the ball alone," I pouted as I wrapped my arms around his neck. 

He sighed and hugged me close to him, nuzzling his head to my neck. "Fine. I'll go get ready in a minute."

I tried to get up so I could finish getting ready but his grip on me got tighter. 

"Please, just let me hold you for a second," he asked, his voice suddenly very somber. I melted into the hug and ran my fingers through his hair. 

"George, what's wrong? I thought you'd be excited to see everyone again," I asked after sitting in silence for a few minutes.

"That's what I'm nervous about," he sighed. "I'm nervous that I won't actually see everyone."

I leaned back to look at him, trying to make sense of what he just said. After seeing his somber eyes and worried face, it clicked.

He's worried about Fred.

"Ahh, I see why you don't want to go now. I'm sure he will be there babe," I said, trying to comfort him.

"How do you know?" 

"I don't, you'll just have to trust me with this one," I said, kissing his cheek quickly before getting up to finish getting ready.

George got into his dress robes and fixed his hair while I slipped into my ball gown. It's dark green satin with lace detailing in the sleeves and bodice. It screams Slytherin even though I'm a Hufflepuff. George must have seen me struggling with the zipper because he was suddenly behind me, slowly zipping up the dress for me. He wrapped his arms around me and looked and us in the full length mirror in front of us. 

"We make a cute couple," he said, resting his head on my shoulder.

"I would sure hope so. We've been together for 5 years, and married for 1 of them," I responded. He laughed and rolled his eyes at me. He kissed me on the cheek before reaching into the closet to grab his ties. 

He held up two ties in front of me, silently asking for help. I picked the green tie so that it matched my dress and helped him put it on.

"You'd think after all these years you would learn how to tie a tie," I said, giggling as he sat down so it was easier for me.

"What? It's not like I wear them all the time. Hell, you probably wear them more than I do," he said cheekily, winking at me. 

"Oh, shut it Weasley." I said, laughing and pushing his shoulder. I'm glad he seems to be in better spirits about going to the alumni ball. 

We arrived to the main entrance of hogwarts, and you couldn't tell that there had been a war here in recent years at all. Everything had finally been pieced back together. George stopped and stared at the entrance, taking a deep breath before grabbing my hand tight. I gently rubbed my thumb across his skin and held his arm close to me with my other hand. I patiently waited for him to enter the castle, giving him as much time to prep as needed.

"Robin, George you made it!" Harry said as he walked up behind us with Ginny in tow.

"I told you we'd be here Harry, wouldn't want to miss it," I said, hugging them both. "Are you ready to go in, hun?" 

George just looked at me and nodded, grabbing my hand again for support. We followed Harry and Ginny into the Great Hall, where it was beautifully decorated like it had been during the Tri-Wizard tournaments yule ball. As I admired the decorations, George looked around the Great Hall nervously. Ron and Hermione joined the group a bit later, and everyone was catching up with each other. Hermione and Ron had just gotten engaged, Ginny and Harry decided to plan games of quidditch for the alumni's, and I talked about how I've been helping George around the shop. George was distracted through most of the conversation, nodding along when he felt fit. 

The band began playing a slow song, and I quickly recognized it. It's one of my favorite muggle songs, "Like Real People Do." I looked up at George, who recognized the song from me dancing to it in the kitchen. I took his hand and lead him out to the dance floor, wrapping my arms around his neck. I could tell his mind was still somewhere else as we swayed. 

"Dance with me and pretend the world doesn't exist, just for a song. Then you can go back to your brooding," I said, cupping his cheek. He signed and turned to kiss my hand before pulling me closer. He rested his head on top of mine and I could feel his hands playing with the lace details of my dress at my waist. 

His head moved to my shoulder and I rested my chin on his shoulder. As we turned in a circle, I suddenly saw him. Fred was floating above the dance floor, either looking for his family or looking for a victim, or both. He saw me and waved excitedly. I was about to tell George but I saw Fred put a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I rolled my eyes, but obliged anyways. The last time we saw Fred was his funeral, I might as well let him get his brothers attention in whatever way he sees fit. 

"So, I see you're still slipping Robin the love potions. Really love, you should stop taking drinks from strange redheads," Fred said, standing behind George. George's body tensed up as he heard the voice, he held me tighter, burying his head into my neck. I held him and rubbed circles into his back, something that I always do to calm him down when he's upset. 

"You didn't lose both ears did you? Oh come on, don't you want to hear about the wicked pranks I've pulled lately," Fred tried to coax is brother into turning around. 

"Have you teamed up with Peeves or do you two have a prank war?" George asked, slowly releasing the tension in his body.

"It's a healthy balance. We work together to prank Filch, but we do have a competition of how many students we've pranked. Oh and Snap is a ghost too, so we fuck around with him as well." Fred answered, crossing his arms.

"Is his hair still greasy in the afterlife?" George asked.

"Oh it's somehow gotten worse. Part of our pranks is trying to dump shampoo on him. The older kids get a kick out of it, I mean most of them saw him at some point before the war. They know how oily he is," Fred laughed. 

"I'll let you two catch up, I'm gonna go find your parents." I said as George turned to his brother. 

Arthur and Molly were standing over by the food when I finally found them. I grabbed a glass of punch before walking over to them, only to notice that they were talking to Tonks and Lupin. 

"Oh Robin dear, there you are!" Molly said as she spotted me, pulling me into a hug. "Where's George?" I pointed over to where Fred and George were catching up. She pulled me into another hug, "Thank you for getting him here, I'm sure it wasn't easy," 

"I only had to guilt trip him a little bit. Thankfully I'm still able to pull the old 'you didn't take me to Yule ball' card," I laughed.

"So Robin, how have you been?" Lupin asked with his ghostly hand wrapped around Tonks.

"I've been alright, I've been trying to help George with the shop. It's been busier than ever since the war ended," I explained. 

"I see he's finally manned up and married you! Congratulations, it's a beautiful ring," Tonks said. 

"Thank you! I really love it, and I really love him," I said as I looked over in his direction. He and Fred looked to be scheming, hopefully they won't cause too much trouble. 

"I kept telling him to do it, but he just kept waiting and waiting. I was about to just ask you to do it instead," Arthur laughed. 

"Had he waited another week, I probably would have to be honest. I kept feeling all of his nervous energy, which made me have nervous energy, and I couldn't focus on anything," I explained. 

I then listened to the adults (though I guess I am too an adult now) catch up. Soon I felt my 6th sense tingling, something was about to happen and I have a feeling my husband and his brother have something to do with it. I looked back to where they were earlier and sure enough, they were nowhere to be seen. I excused myself and found Ginny.

"Have you seen George lately?" I asked. She shook he head no before looking around. 

"Oh no, is he about to do something?" She asked, sensing the shift as well.

"Given that Fred and Peeves work together constantly now, one can only imagine." I was barely able to finish my sentence before the doors to the Great Hall swung open. George came out on a broom with Fred and Peeves floating on either side of him. It seems they've decided to revisit their exit prank they pulled during their 7th year. 

Quickly, the great hall filled with hundreds of tiny fireworks. Small ones came to me and exploded in a heart shape. I looked up to see George watching me for a reaction. He winked at me and I blew him a kiss before he sped on his way to go release more fireworks. Poor professor McGonagall was standing at the front of the great hall with her head in her hands. 

Everyone had fun watching the twins briefly reunite, at least those who weren't being actively chased by the fireworks. They had charmed a few fireworks for Ron to look like spiders, and I thought he was going to shit himself. Hermione held back laughter as her new fiancé was rendered useless by colorful, sparkly spiders. For the big finale, the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes logo exploded over the Great Hall. Everyone clapped and laughed, glad to have seen a famous Weasley prank after 7 years without them. 

Fred and Peeves high fived each other as they saw filch mumbling about the ruckus. George flew back out the doors, back towards the courtyard. I excused myself and went out to find him. As soon as he saw me he ran over and swung me around in his arms, planting a passionate kiss on my lips.

"That was amazing! Did you see the looks on their faces! They never saw it coming!" He said excitedly. 

"I told you that you'd have a good time tonight," I laughed.

"Mmm do you want to go home and continue having a good time?" He said cheekily, dancing a bit as he said it.

"Only if your offer from earlier still stands," I winked, walking backwards towards our brooms. He pulled me in close and whispered, "Oh you bet it does," before kissing me with more passion than before and quickly taking us home.


	8. James Potter-Quidditch After Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During winter break, you and the Marauders play a game of quidditch under the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all I hate writing quidditch. I keep trying, but it’s so boring to write. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not really a sports person at all, my theatre background does nothing to help with quidditch chapters.

Holiday breaks are a time for family. Time to get away from school work, professors, and relax. Or if your like my friend group, it's a time of less professors supervision, and more shenanigans. My personal favorite: Quidditch After Hours. We gather enough people for 2 teams, everyone votes on 2 captains, and captains pick their teams. We play at the quidditch pitch under the stars. Sometimes we have an audience, sometimes we don't. 

It's less of a "shenanigan" now that we've got Hagrid as our "sponsor" so it's now a club. It took a lot of convincing, but McGonagall realized it would happen anyways. (Which it already was before we became an official club.) Now we just can't get in trouble for it.

"Potter, still on for a game this weekend?" I asked as I sat joined him in the great hall.

"I don't know Windsor. Are you ready to get your ass beat?" He joked.

"First of all, we may be on the same team this time. Second, I'm totally kicking your ass if we're not on the same team," I rebutted.

"I'm still waiting on an answer from Mary, but if she says yes then we have enough people for a game," Remus stated. 

"What else would she be doing? Why would she say no?" James asked.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because somebody decided to flirt with her for weeks on end, go on one date with her, and then never speak to her again?" I looked at Sirius

James smacked him on the back of the head as he sat down next to him. 

"What did I tell you? Two dates. You go on two dates if you're not going to continue seeing them. The first date is fun, flirty you. If you don't feel great after that, just be your normal shit self on the second one so that they're not confused when you avoid them at all costs." He explained to Sirius 

"You're both such players," I rolled my eyes.

"Hey I'm not a player," James defended.

"Just because you're currently in a relationship doesn't make you a player," I said, poking him.

"It does make me your player though," he winked.

"Pack it up love birds," Remus said.

We finished eating lunch and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. There's really not a lot to do during breaks outside of wreak havoc and chill. Peter was the only one to actually go home for break, while Remus, James, and Sirius decided to stay with me at Hogwarts for the holidays.

I sat on to the couch and swung my legs up onto James's lap. I leaned back against the arm of the couch and let my head fall back. 

"So who else could we even ask if Mary says no?" I asked.

"We could ask Severus?" Remus suggested.

"Ha! Like sniveling Snape would ever play quidditch," James laughed.

"He might if it wasn't for you," I said.

"Why what ever do you mean, love?" He asked, running his hands mindlessly up and down my legs.

"You're kind of an ass to him," I shrugged.

"Snape is kind of an ass to us," Sirius defended.

"He's nice to me. He's nice to those who mind their business," I sighed.

"That's because he has a crush on you, Windsor," Remus added. James mindlessly grabbed my leg a bit tighter when this point was brought up.

"Alright Remus, if you're going to lie you have to be better than that. Literally everyone knows that he's in love with Lilly," I argued.

"She's got a point there," Sirius piped up. 

Soon Mary entered the common room and all of the boys eagerly looked to her for a response about quidditch.

"Hey Mary, are you interested in a game this weekend?" I asked, hoping I would get a better response than if the boys had asked.

"Fine, I'll do it," she sighed before going up to her room. Sirius and James high-fived while Remus and I rolled our eyes at them.

Soon it was the weekend and we were all heading out to the quidditch pitch. Those of us who were on house teams put on our quidditch sweaters out of habit. Everyone else came in their own sweaters and we charmed them to keep us warm in this cold winter night. 

"Alright, who are the captains this time?" Hagrid asked as we all got to the field.

"I nominate Windsor and Potter!" Sirius chimed in. The group was soon filled with agreeing comments. 

James gave me a quick kiss and a wink before saying, "You up for this, Windsor?" 

"You're going down, Potter," I smirked. 

"Ladies first," He gestured to the group. We picked our 6 people. James and I were seekers, Sirius was a beater for James's team, and Remus was a chaser for my team. Though I really wanted Sirius on my team, James got him first. 

"Now, I want a clean game. Y'know if anyone gets seriously hurt they'll shut down the club. And I'm not comfortable covering for you guys like I use to," Hagrid said as he started the game. 

"Good luck love," James winked as he flew in front of me.

"Loser gets the Firewhiskey for the next party?" I suggested.

"And winner gets to pick the next date," James pointed at me.

"Those are some lame bets, you two" Sirius said, flying up behind James.

Before I got the chance to respond, Hagrid threw the quaffles, bludgers, and the snitch into play and everyone scattered to their positions. I flew above the match, the beginning of matches is always the most boring part for seekers. The snitch disappears out of sight the minute the game starts, so I tend to just hover above the pitch and observe. 

"You ready to buy a big bottle of Firewhiskey and spend all day at the lake?" James smirked, flying up next to me.

"I don't know, are you ready to spend all night in the astronomy tower," I suggested. 

I watched the game continue below us. Sirius was sending bludgers back at Remus, away from his teammates. Remus thankfully dodged it and managed to score a few points for our team.

"You look hot when you're so invested in the game," James flirted, flying into my vision.

"Oh so is that why you're dating me? Because of my focus on quidditch?" I teased.

"I mean, you were the first seeker to score against me," he said, referencing our first "Quidditch After Hours," match. 

"So it's the challenge that you like?" 

"You've got a nice ass, too," 

"Oh shut it, Potter," I said, looking back down at the game. I saw a gold glimmer fly behind the keeper on my team. Focusing in, I decided to hover a bit closer to the match, trying to not draw attention to the fact that I had seen anything. 

I apparently let my body language slip, and soon Potter was flying past me in the direction of the snitch. I quickly trailed after him, hoping that my time as a chaser for Gyffindor would work out for me somehow. As I caught up next to him, James dive-bombed straight down, me following closely behind. 

When I realized what was happening, I quickly jerked my broom up, leveling myself out with the field. James decided to take a leap of faith, and abandon his broom when he got about 3 feet off the ground. He rolled on the field from all of the momentum, before coming to a stop on his back. Hagrid came over to him and James lifted up his right hand, revealing that he had caught the snitch.

I got back down onto the field and ran over to him, worried he had managed to hurt himself doing something stupid again. Kneeling down beside him, I checked his arms and legs for any signs of injury. 

"You know you can feel me up any time darling, but in front of our friends and Hagrid? That's a bit promiscuous," James teased. 

"Oh shut up, you're lucky you're not hurt," I said, shoving his shoulder.

"I think I'm luckier because I get to spend all day with you at the lake tomorrow," he winked. Sirius and Remus began gagging behind us, teasing flirty James. I rolled my eyes and helped him up. We all headed to chill out at the common room so we could figure out how I was going to sneak in a giant bottle of Firewhiskey in for the next party.


	9. Charlie Weasley-Homesick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Visiting an old childhood friend at his place of work is nice, but it can be rough being away from home for too long.

For the past week, I've been visiting with Charlie Weasley in Romania. We were best friends growing up, but I haven't seen him in about a year since he started working out here. I was super excited to see an invite to come stay and catch up with him for a couple weeks. 

Being at the dragon sanctuary is amazing, and it's so nice to see Charlie in his element, but I was beginning to miss my own cozy house. Though Charlie did his best to make me feel at home, I was especially missing all the times I stayed at the Burrow with him and his family. We would always stay up all night, sitting by the fire and talking about what we wanted to do with our lives. Molly would find us passed out together in the morning. I'd be sprawled out on the couch and Charlie would be sitting in the floor, his head leaning back onto the couch. Most of the time she would let us sleep until the smell of breakfast woke us up before asking us why we were asleep in the living room.

"Amara, are you ready for today?" Charlie asked, snapping me out of my flashback.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah of course I am," I responded, sipping on the tea he made for me. 

"Is everything alright?" he asked, sitting down across from me. I'm terrible at hiding things from him, he can read me like a book.

"Things are fine," I answered.

"Amara." He said sternly, knowing something was up.

"I'm sorry Charlie, I guess I'm just a bit homesick. That's all." I said, putting down my cup of tea.

Charlie reached out and put his hand on top of mine, "I think I might know what will cheer you up. If you want to hang out here for the day instead of at the sanctuary, that's totally fine. But I've got something planned for tonight that I think you'll really enjoy."

"Thanks, I'll still go to the sanctuary with you. You promised me you'd show me the baby dragons today," I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Just a reminder that they are still dragons, not puppies," Charlie said before going into his room to get ready.

"They're just fire puppies, I don't see the issue," I yelled back to him. I finished up my tea as I waited for Charlie to come out. He finally emerged from the bedroom, shirt unbuttoned as he searched for his work boots. I thankfully caught myself staring before he did. 

Charlie and I have always been very good friends, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't ever consider being something more than friends. Everyone thought we were dating during our time at Hogwarts anyways. Molly always treats me like I'm his girlfriend, and not just his friend. I caught her scolding him once for not getting me flowers on Valentines Day. Every Valentines Day after that he got me a small bouquet of roses. 

I snapped myself out of my little flashback and went to get dressed before Charlie raised any suspicions. I put on a pair of my jeans and a button up shirt that Charlie had laid out for me. In hopes of the dragons not seeing me as a threat, Charlie has been having me wear his shirts that smell like him. 

Once I button the shirt up, I slip on my combat boots and head back out to the living room. Charlie is wrapping up his arms, protecting from any small burns or scratches. He's tied his hair up in a messy bun, his shorter front pieces falling out and framing his face. His hair has gotten so long since I've last seen him, and I am loving the new look.

"Do you want help with this again, or do you think you've got it?" He asked, offering me the tape. 

"Normally I would do it myself, but I'm not sure I trust myself to do it right and I don't feel like risking it with tiny dragons." I explained. He laughed, grabbed my hand, and brought me closer to him. He carefully wrapped my forearms, checking to make sure the wrap wasn't too loose or too tight. 

"How does that feel?" He asked as he finished up both wrists.

"It feels fine, it should be good for fire puppies," I said, rotating my wrists to change their range of motion. 

"Good. Now I'll be doing what I can to make sure you don't get hurt, but please be careful. I know they're cute, but they are still dragons and they're a little too playful with fire right now. My mother would kill me if you got hurt," Charlie explained.

"Oh yes, I'm very familiar with Molly's ways," I laughed, thinking back to the Valentines Day moment. Once Charlie grabbed his work bag we headed out to where the baby dragons are being kept. Soon we came upon a tent in the woods. Charlie lead me inside and my mouth dropped.

The inside of the tent was charmed to be a massive replication of the forest around us. I guess they wanted a way to keep track of the dragons whilst also protecting the forest from their accidental fires. A small tan dragon came running over to say hi to Charlie. 

"Hi Norberta, causing trouble again?" Charlie asked the small dragon as she climbed up onto his forearm. I watched the adorable exchange, trying not to startle the dragon that clearly didn't see me. 

"Now Norberta, remember how I said you'd get to meet one of my best friends?" Charlie asked, and it looked like the small dragon nodded in response. "Well here she is, Amara this is Norberta, Norberta this is Amara."

"Hi Norberta," I whispered, stepping a bit closer to Charlie. He took my arm and placed it next to his arm that she was perched on. She sniffed me before climbing over to perch on my arm. She tucked her wings in as she walked up my arm, sniffing my shirt and my hair.

"Oh yeah, here let me pull your hair back. They'll either try to eat it or fry it," Charlie said, grabbing a ponytail holder off his wrist and moving to stand behind me. I stayed perfectly still as Norberta watched her handler with curiosity. 

People playing with my hair is a weakness of mine, and this was no exception. I closed my eyes as I felt Charlie lightly run his fingers through my hair to gather it at the crown of my head. Goosebumps flooded my arms as his fingers brushed the nape of my neck. 

Once he was done putting my hair up, he stayed behind me. Norberta watched him curiously, wondering what he was doing. I was wondering too. He placed one hand on my waist to keep me steady while the other went up to pet Norberta. She nuzzled into his hand, clearly enjoying the attention. He then put his arm out for her and she crawled onto him. 

By the end of the day, I believe I had met all of the dragon children. Only one of them tried to nip at a piece of hair that had fallen out from the hairstyle Charlie gave me. Charlie quickly scooped up the dragon when he realized what was happening. A couple blew smoke at me, but never fire. Charlie kept an eye on them every time they came near me. He was like an overprotective mother, both over me and the dragons. 

"Charlie this has been the best day! Did you see how that one dragon snuggled up to me! That was so adorable." I gushed as Charlie lead me back to the house.

"Yes, yes it was. I'm glad you had fun, but the day isn't over yet," Charlie laughed. 

"Oh yeah, what is it that you've got planned, Weasley?" I asked.

"You'll see. Did you bring a sweater by chance?" He asked as we finally arrived to the house.

"I don't think so, let me go check," I said as I went to the bedroom. Charlie followed behind, already unbuttoning his shirt so he can change. The feeding got a bit messy today, and it was really starting to stink up his shirt. "It doesn't look like I packed one."

"That's alright, you can borrow one of mine," Charlie said, looking through his drawers. He pulled out one of my favorite sweaters, his signature Weasley sweater that his mom made him for Christmas. "Here, put this on."

"Thanks, umm, I'm going to go change in the bathroom. I'll be in the living room when you're done changing," I said before heading to the bathroom. I took off the button up, checking in the mirror to make sure I didn't have any scratches, before slipping the soft familiar sweater on. Molly made me a classic Weasley sweater one year for Christmas, but I've sadly grown out of it. Charlie's is one size too big and still smells faintly of the burrow. 

I went to the living room and plopped down on the couch, waiting for Charlie to come out. He finally entered the living room in a dark green sweater that fit him nicely. 

"Forget something?" He asked. I tilted my head at him, wondering what he could be referring to. He just chucked and sat down next to me, taking one of my hands. He pushed the sleeve of the sweater up and began undoing the wrap that was still on my arm. 

"Oh, whoops. I didn't know if I still needed that or not," I said. 

"Nah, we are going to a much calmer place than the baby dragon section," Charlie responded. Once he finished taking off the wraps he stood up and grabbed a bag. "Are you ready, Watkins?" 

"Ready Weasley," I said, following him out the door. He grabbed his broom and mounted it.

"Get on, Amara," He said, scooting forward so I could sit behind him. 

"When's the last time you flew?" I asked as I mounted behind him.

"I fly all the time here, some of the dragons are easier to feed if you air drop their food to them," he shrugged, "What are you worried about anyways, I was the best seeker at Hogwarts, you even said it yourself,"

"Yeah yeah, okay. Just remember, Molly will have a cow if you get us hurt," I said as I wrapped my arms around his waist. 

Soon we were flying above the trees and I could see the entirety of the sanctuary. Some dragons were nestled up together, getting ready for bed. Others were playing around, rolling around and swatting the other with their wings. I was so busy watching the dragons that I didn't notice that Charlie had flown up to a mountain top. It was flat, cold, and rocky, and I was confused.

"What's up here?" I asked.

"Nothing really, but I like to go up here when I get homesick," Charlie said as he landed the broom. The bag he took was revealed to be a tent that he quickly set up with a spell that I'm sure he learned from Molly. 

"Everything is really beautiful from up here," I said, looking down at the land around us.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice view. But the best view is when it get's dark," Charlie says as he lays a blanket and a couple pillows down.

"What happens when it gets dark?" I asked.

"You can see all of the stars. It's just like when we would look up at the stars at the burrow, only much quieter," He responded, sitting down on the blanket. 

"I've missed doing that. The stars aren't quiet the same without you, Charlie," I said, sitting next to him.

"They aren't the same without you either, Amara," Charlie said quietly. 

The sun finally went down and we sat in silence as we stared up at the Milky Way.

"Which planet is that again?" Charlie asked, pointing up to a bright red star.

"Mars. At least I think it is, it's been a while since I've actually had to study the stars," I said as I laid back on the pillow. 

"I never did well in astronomy," Charlie said as he laid down.

"Well, you did spend all your time focused on Care of Magical Creatures," I turned to him.

"And look where it's got me," He gestured. 

"I never said it was a bad thing, Weasley," 

"I know, I just sometimes can't believe I actually get to do this."

"Honestly, me too," I laughed, "I mean, I'm glad you get to, but sometimes it kind of sucks."

"How so?" He asked, turning to me.

"I never get to see my best friend anymore. I love that you get to do this, and that you're happy doing it, but I miss seeing you. Fred and George are hard to fend off at Christmas by myself," I said, trying not to be to serious.

"Are they trying anything with you?" He asked, somewhat seriously.

"No, not really at least. They make flirty comments and jokes but they don't mean it," I explained.

"Do you want them to mean it?" He asked quietly.

"No, I sort of have my eye on another Weasley," I said.

"Oh yeah really? Who?" He asked quickly.

"I mean, come on really?" I turned to my back so I didn't look at him. "How could you not know that I have a MASSIVE crush on Percy?!" I laughed as Charlie threw his pillow at me.

"Oh shut it Watkins, I thought you were serious,"

"How do you know I'm not? It has been a year since we've caught up. Percy could be totally hot like the rest of you by now," I joked.

"Ahhh so you think I'm totally hot?" He winked.

"Alright don't get too full of yourself. Bill is also included in that statement," I defended.

"You think Bill is a poser," He pointed out.

"Name one person who wears a fang earring that isn't a poser," I said.

"So my statement stands, you think I'm totally hot?" Charlie was now laying on his side, one arm propping his head up as he looked at me.

"So what if I do?" I turned my head to face him, cheeks burning red.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked seriously.

"I...what?" I asked, not sure if I heard him right.

"Can I, Charlie Weasley, kiss you, Amara Watkins?" He said. Words failed me out of shock, and I just slowly nodded my head. 

Charlie pushed my hair away from my face before putting his hand on the back of my neck. He gently pulled me towards him and he gently pressed his lips to mine. My hand found its way to the back of his neck, tangling itself in his long red hair. Butterflies in my stomach were swarming as our lips melded together. He pulled away slowly and rested his forehead against mine, rubbing my cheek with his thumb.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," He sighed.

"Maybe if you hadn't run off to Romania we could've done that sooner," I joked.

"Listen, I thought you had a thing with Percy. Who am I to come between true love?" He joked along.


	10. Neville Longbottom- May I Have This Dance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neville has always been close, so why does he suddenly start to pull away?

"Hey buddy, you ready to study for this herbology test?" I asked as Neville finally entered the gryffindor common room. We were supposed to start studying about 30 minutes ago, but something came up and I guess he got busy.

"Yeah, I'm ready. I'm sorry, that took way longer than I had expected it to," he said as he sat next to me on the couch. I handed him his herbology book that I had been flipping though while I waited for him to get back. He always writes little notes in his textbooks and whenever we study he lets me flip through them. "Did anyone try to give you trouble for being in here?" 

"Neville, we've been studying here for years. The last time someone tried to give me crap for being in here was in second year, when they didn't realize that people from other houses were allowed in all of the common rooms," I explained. 

"Just wanted to make sure," He said quietly, flipping through the pages of his book. 

"I think they're used to seeing a Hufflepuff in here by now," I laughed as I got out my notebook. He nodded in agreeance as we both silently read over our notes for a minute. 

I rested my back against the armrest of the couch, stretching my legs out in front of me. Neville sat against the other armrest, flipping quickly through the pages. I watched as his eyes scanned over the pages, squinting as he tried to make sense of his scribbled notes in the margins. 

Neville and I have been friends since second year. I did poorly on a few herbology tests and Professor Sprout asked Neville if he would help me study. Now we study for every test together. We also hang out without the need for a test to study for. He's honestly the best friend that I have here, despite the fact that we are in different houses. 

"Do you have any questions?" Neville asked as he looked up from his book.

"Oh, no. I think this is finally a topic I somewhat understand." I said, looking over my notes from last class.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure. I thought you were waiting on me to finish reading to ask a question," he said, closing his book. He must've felt that I was staring at him and not my notebook.

"Well I don't have any questions on this test. I'm honestly shocked that we are even having a test right now. I didn't think we would have this many while the tournament was going on," I said. 

"Yeah. I guess it's not too shocking though considering there's only one person competing from each school. Well, two from ours I guess." he said as he closed his book. 

"Neville! Cordelia! Just the people we wanted to see." Fred Wealsey exclaimed as he ran down the stairs from his dorm room.

"What's up Fred?" I asked.

"You know a lot about herbology, right?" George asked as the twins stood behind the couch where Neville and I were seated.

"Neville's the herbology expert, not me," I answered.

"So Neville, if we used the leaves from this plant in a potion, what would that do?" Fred asked as he showed Neville a picture of a plant from his textbook.

"That's more of a potions question, and I think Snape has made it well known to all of Hogwarts that I don't know what I'm doing there," Neville said shyly.

"Cordelia, any ideas?" George asked as he kneeled next to me.

"Umm, lets see. I think it depends on what else you put in it, but I think that's just supposed to give it some flavor," I said as I looked at the strange plant. 

"Ahh! Thank you love, you're a genius," Fred said as he kissed my head and ran back upstairs with George. I felt my face turning red and I curled up against the couch, not expecting the display of affection from the twins. Neville looked away, staring into the fireplace. The only sound in the room now was the crackling fire.  
"So, are you excited to watch the next task?" I asked him, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over us. 

"I'm not really sure. The first task was terrifying to watch, and I think the tasks are only supposed to get harder," Neville said as he looked down and fiddled with his hands.

"Has Harry figured out the clue yet?" I asked.

"I don't know, we aren't super close," he said, staring at the fire. "Has Cedric figured it out?" 

"I think so, I'm not really sure. It's hard to get past his fan club to actually talk to him lately," I laughed. Cedric and I were pretty close, but he's been preoccupied lately with the tournament and his newly found fame. He's always been popular in Hufflepuff, but now that he's a champion, girls and boys from every house are fawning over him. The main reason we were so close is because I was one of the few girls who didn't fawn over him. Sure, Cedric is attractive, but he's not really my type. He's a bit too "jock" for me. 

"I'm really tired, I think I'm going to head up to bed," Neville said, faking a yawn. 

"Is everything alright, Nev?" I asked, grabbing his wrist as he stood. 

"Um, yeah. I just...it's just been a long day," he said, his face flushed as he stared at my hand on his wrist. 

"Okay...Just so we are clear, I know you're lying. But I also know that you had that potions quiz today so I'm letting it slide. You know you can talk to me, right?" 

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry, I just really want to go to bed right now," he said, running a hand through his hair. 

"Alright, well...goodnight. I think I'll be down here for a while, even with the twins, this common room is quieter than the Hufflepuff one right now. So if you change your mind, or just want some company, I'll be here." I said as he slowly walked upstairs. I don't know what's gotten into him lately.

"What do you mean you haven't figured out the clue yet? Harry this is important!" Hermione exclaimed as she, Harry, and Ron entered the common room. 

"The second task isn't for at least 2 months, I'm sure it will be fine," Harry defended.

"The first task was a dragon, and the tasks get harder as they go. This one will probably be even more dangerous!" Hermione worried. 

I opened my notebook, trying to continue my studies without drawing attention to myself. I don't think that they noticed I was in the common room yet. 

"I bet Krum has figured it out, the man's a genius," Ron swooned. I giggled at the fan behavior from Ron, causing the trio to look my way.

"Oh, hello Cordelia, waiting on Neville?" Hermione greeted.

"No, he actually just went up to bed. How did that potions quiz go today?" I asked.

"It actually wasn't bad at all, it was probably the easiest quiz we've ever had in there, why?" Ron answered, sitting on the chair across from the couch.

"Oh, I figured Snape gave Neville a hard time, and that's why he's gone to bed at 8pm," I said, even more confused by his behavior. 

"I mean, Snape is never really nice towards any of us, but today was probably the closest we've ever been to seeing him in a good mood," Harry said, sitting down on the couch. 

"Weird, I wonder what's up with him," I said as I curled my legs up to give Harry more room. 

"Say Cordelia, do you know if Cedric has figured out the clue yet?" Hermione asked.

"'Mione why would she answer that? She probably wants her house to have the champion, it's not like they have much else," Ron said, failing to be as quiet as he wanted.

"Well, we did win that one quidditch match against you guys last year," I piped up.

"Yeah, because Harry was attacked by dementors!" Ron argued.

"And Cedric still feels bad about it to this day, he didn't know what happened," I responded. Ron continued to mumble something but was interrupted by Hermione.

"Ignore him, he's overly upset about a game he didn't play in," she rolled her eyes, "Anyways, do you know anything?"

"I'm sorry guys, but I really don't know anything. Cedric and I haven't really talked much lately. It's hard to get to him past his new fan club," I said.

"Well then, if you do find anything out, and if you don't mind of course, please let us know," Hermione responded, "I'm going to go study, I'll see you lot in the morning," 

"I'm going to go see what Fred and George are up to, they said they found something out about Percy and I want to know what it is," Ron said, heading upstairs to the 6th year boys dorm room, leaving Harry and I on the couch.

"So, you really don't know anything about the clue?" Harry asked, turning towards me. We sat on opposite ends of the couch, facing each other as our backs pressed against the armrests. 

"Nope, ever since the first task, Cedric and I haven't really been able to hang out. Honestly, Neville is the only person I've been able to hang out with since the tournament started. I was hoping to get to hang out with him tonight, but he seems upset," I vented. 

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked.

"I have no clue. Things were fine and then he got quiet and went upstairs. I was hoping he'd go for a walk with me tonight to try to clear our heads, but I guess I can try again tomorrow," I sighed.

"Well, I'm not Neville, but I'm down to go on a walk if you want," Harry suggested. 

"Oh, um sure. Thanks Harry, I just need to grab a jacket and then I'll be ready," 

"You can borrow one of mine, I don't mind. Plus then you don't have to possibly deal with the Diggory fan club," Harry said, helping me off the couch. 

I followed him up to the 4th year boys dorm room, which was much cleaner than I had expected. 

"Hey Neville, Cordelia and I were just about to go on a walk. Care to join us?" Harry said as he searched for a jacket. "Here, this one is probably the comfiest one I've got," 

He handed me a plain black jumper before grabbing himself a black zip-up. 

"No thanks Harry, I think I'm just gonna turn in early," Neville said, eyeing the jumper Harry had just handed me before lying down in bed and pulling the covers over him.

Harry looked at me and shrugged before mouthing, "I tried," and slipping the zip-up on. I slipped on the black jumper and followed behind Harry, thankful that at least one person was willing to keep me company.

~

Two weeks later, and Neville is still barely talking to me. There haven't been any tests since the Herbology test that I barely passed after that night, so I haven't really had an excuse to talk to him. Harry is really the only person that's been talking to me lately, and I think that's just because Ron has been a bit of a dick to him since the whole Champion thing. 

"So what do you think they want to talk to us about?" Harry asked after taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. 

"I have no idea, I'm just glad they paired Gryffindor and Hufflepuff together instead of putting us with Slytherin like usual," I said, before taking a bite of my lunch.

After lunch, everyone in 3rd year and up is supposed to go to a meeting with their houses instead of their normal classes. They never do anything like this, so I assume it has to do with the tournament. 

We finished up lunch as Harry ranted about his friends, and I attempted to give him advice, despite the fact that my two main friends weren't really speaking to me either.

Once the Great Hall was clear of Ravenclaws, Slytherins, and the younger students, the tables were charmed to go into storage and suddenly the hall was very empty. Filch began assembling a turntable while students filled in to sit at the benches that were on either side of the hall. Students who didn't want to sit huddled together against the wall, while Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout stood in the center.

"Settle down children, settle down," Sprout said. 

"We have gathered you here today for a lesson. One that is a bit different from your usual curriculum," McGonagall stated.

"As is tradition with the Triwizard Tournament, we will be hosting the Yule Ball on December 25," Sprout continued.

"As it is a ball, you will need to know how to dance," McGonagall said. Everyone started whispering to each other in excitement, only to be cut off by McGonagall, "Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst forward and take flight. Inside every boy a lordly lion prepared to prance. Mr. Weasley, will you join me?" 

Harry held back a laugh as he watched his friend learn how to waltz with McGonagall. Sprout showed us some moves as well with the help of Cedric. 

"Alright, boys up on your feet! Pick a partner and practice your waltz," Sprout said, gesturing for the boys to stand up. 

"May I have this dance?" Harry said, offering his hand.

"As long as you don't stomp my foot again, yes," I laughed, taking his hand. 

"Wait when did I stomp on your foot?" He asked, placing one hand on my waist and the other holding my other hand.

"I don't fully remember when, but I know it happened," I said as we began stumbling around the hall in our little section. Neither of us were good dancers, but it was pretty fun to stumble around with him. 

"Gentlemen, switch partners," Sprout announced. Harry went off, finding Cho Chang and asking her for a dance.

"May I have this dance, Miss. Green?" Cedric said, offering his hand to me.

"Ahh I see you're talking to me now?" I said, taking his hand. 

"Listen, I'm really sorry about that. I've been trying to catch you between classes or during meals but something or someone comes up," Cedric said. While the conversation with Cedric was more difficult, the dancing was much smoother.

"Can't break away from your fan club?" I said, looking around the room and being met with several dirty looks from the members of said fan club. 

"I try, but by the time I've gotten away from them you've disappeared," he said. "So what's been going on?" 

"Not much, my two main friends haven't spoken to me in a couple weeks. Thankfully Harry has been really nice and has been hanging out with me," I said. 

"Yeah, you two seem pretty chummy lately. Is there anything going on there?" Cedric questioned.

"No, Harry is nice but he's not really my type," I said, watching as he accidentally stepped on Cho Chang's foot and profusely apologized. "I actually have someone else in mind, but I think I've done something to piss him off."

"Ladies, chose a new partner," McGonagall announced. I said my good-byes to Cedric as I looked for the awkwardly cute gryffindor with shaggy brown hair.

"May I have this dance?" I asked awkwardly, holding my hand out to Neville. He quietly took my waist and we started swaying to the music which had changed from a waltz to a slow song, as both Sprout and McGonagall could see we were all tired from the previous waltz. We swayed in silence, I studied Neville's face as he avoided looking at me. 

"Neville, what's wrong?" I finally asked.

"Nothing's wrong, why would anything be wrong?" he said quickly, looking at the couple next to us.

"Well for starters, you won't even look at me," I said quietly. He sighed and finally looked at me, he looked hurt for some reason. 

"Second, you haven't spoken to me in two weeks. Did I do something to upset you? What happened?" I asked, suddenly very nervous for an answer.

"I didn't want to interrupt you and your new boyfriend," He said, looking over towards Harry who was now dancing with Hermione. 

"What? What are you talking about?" I cocked my head sideways.

"Oh, I just figured you guys were dating by now. It's been a couple weeks of you two going on walks and eating together at meals," Neville said.

"Neville, you haven't spoken to me since our study session. Harry is the only person who has made an effort to talk to me since then," I responded.

"Well I guess that's nice for you, since you've got that big crush on him and everything," he shrugged. I stopped swaying and pressed my forehead to Neville's chest. Much like a facepalm, only my arms are wrapped around Neville.

"I don't like Harry, I like you, Neville," I said, forehead still pressed to his chest.

"I...umm...what?" he said. 

I pushed myself back from his chest and looked into his Hazel eyes. "You Neville, I like you. Not Harry, not Cedric, not Fred, and not George. You." 

"Really?" Neville asked, his grip on my waist tightening.

"Yes, it's always been you Neville," I said. He pulled me into a tight hug, so tight I could feel his heart beating out of his chest.

"I like you, too," he said softly, as he hugged me tight. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, class is dismissed. Continue on with your regularly scheduled classes," McGonagall announced as Filch stopped the music.

"Do you want to go study?" I asked, knowing that Neville and I were both done with classes for the day.

"How about we go for a walk. You can catch me up on what I missed while I was being too assumptive," Neville said, lacing his fingers with mine. 

"I'd really like that," I said, holding his arm with my other hand.

"Since we're at it, would you also like to go to the Yule Ball with me?" he asked shyly. 

I turned to him and kissed him quickly on the cheek, "I thought you would never ask."


	11. Severus Snape - Teaching at Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helena Sanderson is the new Divination professor at Hogwarts. Will she be able to bond with the only other young professor, Severus Snape?

Teaching at your alma mater feels a bit strange. Instead of hiding around the halls, pulling pranks or sneaking around with boys, I am now one of the people who’s supposed to tell them to not do that. In a weird way, it’s nice to be back though. 

“Ah, Professor Sanderson, welcome! We are so excited to have you here with us,” Dumbledore said at the beginning of the faculty meeting. Students were supposed to arrive soon, so we had a large faculty meeting to get organized before they arrived.

“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. I’m glad to be back,” I said before he continued on with the meeting. It was fairly straight forward. We went over who the prefects and head boys and girls were, who was teaching what (though I believe I was the only new professor), and who was in charge of what extracurricular activity per house. I recognized a few teachers from my time at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout were a couple of my former professors, along with Professor Binns, but I’m not sure he counts. My old head of house, Professor Slughorn, was nowhere to be seen, meaning he must have retired. 

“Hey, Professor Sprout, how have you been?” I said, welcoming one of my favorite professors into a hug. 

“Feel free to call me Paloma dear, I’ve been well, and I hope you have been too,” she said warmly. 

“So, who are the heads of the houses now? I noticed that Slughorn is gone, and I don’t have a clue who the head of Slytherin house is now,” I admitted. 

“Well everyone is the same except for Slytherin, Severus Snape became the new potions master and head of Slytherin house last year,” she explained, pointing over to another professor, who looked to be similar in age to me. I thanked her and headed over to introduce myself. 

He looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my hand on where I knew him from. He had long black hair, and stood off to the side, not conversing with any of the other professors.

“Hi, I’m Helena, the new Divination professor. I understand you’re the head of Slytherin?” I said, sticking my hand out. 

“Correct. Welcome back to Hogwarts,” he said, shaking my hand briefly. 

“Thank you, it’s nice to be back. It is a bit strange to think that I’m working here with almost everyone I was taught by. It’s nice to know there’s another young professor here. At least, I’m assuming you’re around my age, I have no idea,” I said, suddenly very nervous. 

“I graduated from Hogwarts in 77’, I’m only 22,” he explained.

“Ah! I graduated in 78’, so we were here around the same time!” I said, figuring out why he was familiar. 

“Well, if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll probably be in the potions classroom most of the time,” he said before excusing himself from the group. 

I got myself settled into my apartment. I knew that some of the professors lived at Hogwarts, but I never knew where until now. It makes sense now that Dumbledore always said this section of the castle was “restricted.” 

The first day of classes is always the easiest, at least it is for the students. I on the other hand found myself unable to open the drawers to my desk. On the break period between classes, I found myself spending my lunch break heading to the potions room, hoping that Snape was in there so he could help me with the simple task of opening up my desk. 

The door was open slightly, and the desks seemed to be empty so I knocked a few times before pressing the door open. 

“Hello? Professor Snape, are you in here?” I asked, slowly walking into the dimly lit classroom.

“Professor Sanderson, can I help you?” Snape said, popping his head out from the storage room. 

“So sorry to bother you, the drawers on my desk are stuck and I can’t get them open. I’ve tried using spells and brute force, but they just won’t open,” I said. 

“I’ll see what I can do, when is your next class?” he said, putting down his potion ingredients.

“I don’t have students again until 1, so in about an hour,” I said, following him out of the classroom. 

As we walked down the hall, I saw many students whispering to each other and pointing as Severus and I walked down the hall. I nodded to the students I recognized. Given that I’ve only been away from Hogwarts for four years, I recognize some of the older students from my own time at this school. 

“So, I understand that we were in school at the same time, and in the same house, but who did you hang out with?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Ha ha, very funny,” he said seriously. 

“What?” I asked.

“Wait, are you serious?” he asked, stopping briefly. 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I questioned. 

“I don’t know, I just thought...you know what, nevermind,” he stammered, continuing our way over to my classroom in silence.   
When we got to the classroom, Severus tried various tactics: jiggling the handles, alohamora, asking nicely, none of which worked. He stood back, staring at the desk, staring at it intently. I watched as a lightbulb went off in his head, and he walked to the doorway of my classroom. He lifted up the strangely placed welcome mat, revealing a small key. Surely enough, the key unlocked the top drawer of my desk, and allowed for the others to be open as well. 

“Finally! Thank you so much!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around Severus in a quick hug. His body tensed up and he stood away from me quickly. 

“Hmm, yes. Well, if that is all you needed then I will be on my way,” he said. 

“Wait! I’m sorry if I said something wrong earlier. I didn’t mean to offend or upset you,” I said. 

“It’s fine, I’m just not really a fan of reliving my days at Hogwarts. It wasn’t exactly fun for me,” Severus said. 

“I’m sorry to hear that. Would you maybe want to get drinks tonight? I promise not to ask about your days at Hogwarts, though I may unintentionally talk about mine,” I suggested. 

“I’ll meet you after dinner,” Severus said, leaving the room as a few of my younger students began entering. I spent the rest of my classes thinking about drinks tonight. 

After dinner, I quickly put on more comfortable clothing. The robes look cool, but in reality they aren’t very comfortable. I slipped on a pair of shorts with a short sleeved blouse and let my hair down. As soon as I was done changing, there were three knocks at my door. 

“One second!” I yelled, stumbling to slip on a pair of comfortable shoes. Once they finally slipped over my heels, I ran over to the door and was met with Severus. He had also changed from his robes, and was now in a pair of black slacks and a black long sleeve button down shirt.

“Hey! I just need to grab my wallet and I’m good to go,” I said, scrambling through my bag. 

“Don’t worry about it, I can pay tonight. Consider it a welcoming gift,” Severus said. I smiled in appreciation and followed him down the corridors. Yet again, students continued whispering and pointing as we walked down the halls. Honestly, I can’t blame them. I would have done the same years ago if I saw any of my professors in normal clothes outside of the school. 

“It feels like I haven’t been here in forever,” I said, stepping into the Three Broomsticks. 

“That’s because you haven’t! Where have you been?” Madame Rosemerta said, clearing the glasses from a table. 

“I’ve been specializing my skills in divination. I’m actually back now so I can teach it at Hogwarts,” I explained, taking my seat.   
“Well congratulations, what can I get you two?” She asked. 

“I’ll have a bourbon and ginger,” Severus said.

“I’ll have the same,” I said, “I used to come here all the time. It was the only thing that could get me through OWLS, especially potions.” 

“Those books that Slughorn used were always wrong, I was constantly fixing things in mine,” Severus said, showing a hint of a smile. 

“That would explain why my potions never worked. Well, that and the fact that I think I’m just bad at it,” I joked. 

“Well, if you ever wanted to learn how to make a particular potion, just let me know,” Severus said as Madame Rosemerta placed our drinks down. 

“Do you want to start a tab or close out?” she asked. 

“Let’s start a tab, I’m paying for hers as well,” he said. 

“Thank you again, by the way,” I said, sipping out my drink. 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s nice to have another young professor here,” he said. 

“So what brought you to Hogwarts?” I asked. 

“Um, Dumbledore actually. He asked me to teach when Slughorn announced his retirement,” he said.

“Nice, he also asked me. Though I feel like I’m the only one who was even interested in the job,” I admitted. 

“Well asides from the desk incident, you seem to be doing well. I heard some whispers at dinner,” he said. 

“That’s good. I just hope things continue to go well. It’s not like Divination is a highly respected subject, but I’m aware of that,” I sighed, stirring my drink. 

“At least you aren’t being called greaseball by your students,” Severus said, causing me to suppress a laugh. 

“Kids can be so cruel,” I said, laughing a bit. 

“Tell me about it, and it’s always the Gryffindors,” he said, finishing his drink. 

“They were always a bit arrogant to me. I wasn’t sure if that was just because of the house rivalry or something else,” I admitted. 

“Oh they were a real piece of work,” he said through gritted teeth. 

“They were really the only people I didn’t hang out with. Hufflepuffs and I typically got along the most, though I did thankfully get along with my roommates,” I reminisced. Soon our drinks were magically refilled, allowing us to continue drinking.

“Not to bring the mood down, but I have a question,” Severus started, “Do you really not remember me?”

“I.. uh...well...no, I’m sorry but I really don’t. I had a fairly small circle, and most of which were girls,” I admitted, trying my best to remember him from my time at school. 

“That’s honestly probably for the best,” he sighed. 

“Why’s that?” I asked, putting my hand on top of his. 

“I wasn’t exactly well liked or known. I mean come on, we essentially grew up together and you didn’t even know I existed,” he said, staring into his drink. 

“I’m not exactly the most observant person. I didn’t even see that there was a lock on the desk earlier,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Hogwarts was hell for me, and it’s probably best that you’re actually meeting me now rather than then. I went into a dark place for a dumb reason,” he sipped.

“Happens to the best of us,” I said, rubbing my thumb on the back of his hand. He flipped his hand over, now holding onto my fingers and rubbing his thumb against them. We both stared at our entangled hands, neither one really believing this moment was happening. 

“Are you ready to close out?” Madame Rosemerta interjected, causing both of us to hurriedly pull our hands back.   
“Um, yes. Thank you,” Severus said quickly, paying for our drinks. 

The walk back to the castle was quiet, neither of us really knew what to say. Our hands would occasionally brush against each other, but that was the only contact we had. Soon we were standing in front of the door to my apartment. 

“Thank you again, for tonight,” I said, fidgeting with the hem of my blouse. 

“No no, thank you. If you’re up for it, we can do this again later in the week?” He suggested, running a nervous hand through his hair. 

“That sounds lovely. Goodnight Severus,” I said, softly kissing his cheek and stepping into my apartment.

“Goodnight Helena…” I heard him breathe out before I closed my apartment door.


End file.
